Twelve athletes will represent Ireland in Italy this week.
This week sees a return to competition for some of the elite and development para riders, as they head to the UEC European Road Championships in Maniago and Montereale Valcellina, Italy. Racing gets underway in northern Italy on Friday, June 12th with Individual Time Trials followed by road racing on Saturday and Sunday the 13th and 14th.
Irish riders enter this European Championships off the back of a very strong World Cup campaign that saw multiple medals taken away from each round, as well as solid performances for development riders at the Hetman Stage Race in Poland.
Reigning double World Champions Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly will ride together once again in the WB category in both the TT and Road Race. The pair took gold and silver at the recent UCI World Cup rounds in Belgium and Italy respectively in the TT. Sinead Greenan and Alice Sharpe will also take to the road in the WB category. The Development Team pairing burst onto the scene in their first World Cup, taking bronze in both the TT and road race in Belgium.
Paralympic pairing Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin recently took silver in the road race at the World Cup round in Abruzzo, Italy, and will ride together again on Italian roads at this European Champs. Ciaran O’Toole and Con Scully first paired up on the tandem in 2025, and this year made their World Cup debut in Belgium with strong performances in both TT and road race events, and will ride together again this week.
Paris 2024 Paralympian Richael Timothy will race in the WC3 category in Italy, having taken a top-10 in both the road race and TT at the recent World Cup round in Belgium. Development rider Heather Jameson made her World Cup debut in Belgium and took fourth place in both the road race and TT in the WC2 category, and will look for another strong performance in this year’s European Champs.
Steven McGowan put on a strong showing at the Belgian and Italian World Cup rounds in an incredibly competitive MH3 field and will take to Italian roads again this week. McGowan will be joined in the hand-bike categories by Allister McSorley, competing in MH4. McSorley comes into this European Championship having taken a silver medal at the Belgian World Cup round in the team-relay.
Cycling Ireland para-coach Jamie Blanchfield welcomed the return European Championship action for Irish athletes; “We’re pleased to announce a team that brings together a strong mix of experienced athletes and emerging talent for the upcoming European Championships. The event represents another major target for the programme this season and marks a welcome return to European road racing after a couple of years away. We know the venue well and have enjoyed success there in the past. We’re excited to see this group continue to build momentum on the international stage.”
More information on the event and live timing for all races is available here.