CYCLING:IRISH ROAD race and time trial champion Matt Brammeier has been forced to miss next week's Tour of Beijing due to difficulties in getting a visa for the event.
This was partly due to a long-running dispute between the pro teams and cycling’s governing body the UCI over race radios. It was only recently resolved, ending a possible boycott of the race but giving teams and riders little time to get documents prior to travelling to the new WorldTour race.
Brammeier was due to race with his HTC Highroad team in what would have been one of his last assignments prior to moving to the Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad in 2012.
Fellow Irish pro Nicolas Roche will be one of the leaders of his Ag2r la Mondiale team there.
Like Brammeier, he rode the Elite world championships on Sunday, finishing in the same time as the winner Mark Cavendish.
Part of Roche’s motivation to keep racing late in the season is to secure extra exposure for his autobiography, which has been released this week.
Meanwhile, Cycling Ireland and Dr Phil Leigh have announced the latter will leave his position of high performance director.
He has been working in that role since April 2009 but, according to CI, “the timing was right as he had advanced the high performance programme as far as possible in the current conditions”.
Earlier this year, Cycling Ireland was told by the Irish Sports Council its high performance grants would be considerably reduced. This forced a change to some plans and Irish teams.
It is not yet clear if Leigh’s departure from the role is related to funding cuts, but CI has said there are no plans to appoint anyone else to the position.
The federation has named the integration of paracycling activities and the resulting achievements as one of the most positive developments during Leigh’s time there, as well as the improvements by the high-performance track teams.
It also said Leigh had helped build a solid development pathway and built important relationships within the sport that will benefit Cycling Ireland in the years ahead.
His future projects are not yet know, but he will be moving back to England.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday: Cycling Ulster AGM, starts 1pm at Quinn's corner, Ballygawley; Leinster AGM, starts 4pm at West County Hotel, Dublin.
Sunday: IVCA 2 up TT, starts 10am at GAA in Batterstown; Youth Commission AGM, starts Creggan Court hotel at 3.30pm.
