Robert McKenna to Represent Ireland at UCI MTB Marathon World Championships
Cycling Ireland can confirm that one rider, Robert McKenna, will represent Ireland at this year’s UCI MTB Marathon World Championships in Trentino, Italy. McKenna will take on the 95km course on Saturday, September 12th.
This World Championship event marks McKenna’s first time pulling on an Irish jersey, with the Bray Wheelers rider taking 6th in the Trans Gran Canaria stage race in May followed by a top-20 Alpen Tour stage race in Austria in June.
McKenna is looking forward to his national team debut; “Pulling on the green jersey for the first time is a childhood dream come true—something I've targeted since my primary school days. After navigating a few major surgeries and countless hours of sacrifice, it’s an unbelievable honour to head to the World Championships and help get Ireland back on the map at the elite international marathon mountain bike level. I'm beyond thrilled to line up and race against the best.”
Last year's longer event, at 125km with 5000m of climbing, was won by American rider Keegan Sweenson in a time of just over six hours, just 15 seconds ahead of second placed Samuele Porro of Italy. With this year's course set at 95km with 4000m of climbing it's expected to be even tighter competition across the 100 rider field.
More information on the event is available here.