Ireland Squad for Road World Championships
A team of 16 riders will represent Ireland at the Road World Championships in Flanders, Belgium from 19-26 September.
Competition begins on Sunday, 19th September with the Elite Men’s Individual Time Trial and concludes a week later with the Elite Men’s Road Race. During the week-long competition, riders will battle for 11 world titles across Junior, U23 and Elite categories (no U23 women’s category). The 2021 edition marks the 100 year anniversary of the first UCI Road World Championships.
Sam Bennett who recently returned to racing to compete at the European Road Championships after an injury forced him out of the 2021 Tour de France is among a team of four riders who will contest the road race. Bennett will be joined by Olympian, Eddie Dunbar, who played a key role in delivering a top 20 result for Team Ireland at the Olympics. Ryan Mullen and Rory Townsend completes the team.
Ryan Mullen will ride the 43.3 kilometre Time Trial along with Marcus Christie who has had an impressive number of victories in Time Trial events in the past year.
Megan Armitage will ride the Elite Women's Road Race while Erin Grace Creighton and Aoife O'Brien are selected for the Junior Women's Road Race. Alice Sharpe was also selected for the Elite Women’s Road Race but has opted to focus her attention on preparing for the European Track Championships which takes place from 5-9 October.
Ben Healy has made selection for both the U23 Men's Road Race and Time Trial. Dillon Corkery and Adam Ward who were among the 67 finishers of 158 starters at the European Road Championships completes the U23 Men's Road Race team. Kevin McCambridge will join Ben Healy for the 30.3 kilometre race against the clock.
The Junior Men's team comprises of Darren Rafferty, Ronan O'Connor, Conal Scully and Dean Harvey. Darren Rafferty, who had a strong performance at the European Road Championships, particularly in the time trial where he narrowly missed out on bronze, will also ride the Junior Time Trial with Conal Skully.
A flat time trial course faces the riders which will run from Knokke-Heist to Bruges. The Elite Men will race over 43.3 kilometres, while the U23 Men and Junior Men will ride a 30.3 kilometre and 22.3 kilometre course respectively.
The road races start on Friday, September 24th with the Junior and U23 Men. The Junior Men’s Road Race will take place over eight laps of the Leuven circuit totalling 121.4 kilometres while the Junior Women will compete over five laps of the circuit amounting to 75 kilometres.
The Elite Men will take on an arduous 268.7km course with 2,562m of elevation including 42 climbs from Antwert to Leuven. The women will race over 157.7 kilometres with 1,047m of climbing, while the U23 Men will complete over 160.9 kilometres.
Watch the action live on BBC and Eurosport.
Course details and route maps available here
Irish Cycling Team – UCI Road World Championships, Flanders, Belgium. (19th-26th September)
Elite Men’s Road Race: Sam Bennett, Eddie Dunbar, Rory Townsend, Ryan Mullen.
Elite Men’s Time Trial: Ryan Mullen, Marcus Christie.
Elite Women’s Road Race: Megan Armitage.
U23 Men’s Road Race: Ben Healy, Dillon Corkery, Adam Ward.
U23 Men’s Time Trial: Ben Healy, Kevin McCambridge.
Junior Men’s Road Race: Darren Rafferty, Ronan O'Connor, Conal Scully, Dean Harvey.
Junior Men’s Time Trial: Darren Rafferty, Conal Skully.
Junior Women’s Road Race: Erin Grace Creighton, Aoife O'Brien
Schedule
Sunday 19th
1:30pm Elite Men Individual Time Trial
Monday 20th
9:40am U23 Men Individual Time Trial
Tuesday 21st
13:55pm Junior Men Individual Time Trial
Friday 24th
7:15am Junior Men Road Race
12:25pm U23 Men Road Race
Saturday 25th
7:15am Junior Women Road Race
11:20am Elite Women Road Race
Sunday 26th
9:25am Elite Men Road Race