Irish riders gearing up for world championships

CYCLING: Bolstered by a recent run of good results, the Irish squad for the 2002 World Championships will spend the next few days fine-tuning their form in advance of the start of the programme of events next Tuesday.

Last weekend saw several of the riders record encouraging displays; the soon-to-be signed professional aspirant Mark Scanlon was an excellent third on the final stage of the Paris-Corrèze three-day, while David O'Loughlin placed seventh in the GP of Gemeente circuit race in Belgium. Páidí O'Brien and Nicolas Roche finished eighth and 13th respectively in junior events, also near Team Ireland's Belgian base.

Confidence on a high, the riders are psyching themselves up for the championships in Zolder. First off are Dermot Nally and Scanlon, riding the under-23 time trial next Tuesday, with the latter going into the contest as one of the hot favourites. Earlier this year Scanlon had looked set for a medal in the European championships until the moment his handlebars snapped; clearly now in better (and, hopefully, luckier) form, he will fancy his chances in Belgium next week.

Wednesday will see elite woman Geraldine Gill and the juniors Nicolas Roche and Theo Hardwick contest their time trials, with O'Loughlin lining out in the elite men's (professional) event one day later.

The programme continues with the under-23, junior, elite women and elite men's road races, running from Friday 11th until Sunday 13th.

This weekend sees the biggest race on the Irish women's calendar take place in north county Dublin, with a host of foreign and domestic riders going head-to-head in the TQ Paper's Women's two-day event. Teams from the Netherlands, Germany, Britain and Ireland are all confirmed, with last year's winner, Esther Van Der Helm, heading the Dutch charge and second-placed Susan O'Mara named to the Irish national team. Louise Moriarty, Róisín Kennedy, Gillian McDarby and Kate Rudd complete the green-jerseyed line-up.

The race begins tomorrow morning with a 64 kilometre road race near Dublin Airport. A two-kilometre time trial follows in the afternoon, starting near the Boot Inn.

Sunday sees the riders tackle a hilly, 74-kilometre stage through Garristown, The Naul, Stamullen, Ballyboughil and on to the finish at the back of the airport.

More details are available from Susan O'Mara at 087 2360121.

FIXTURES - Tomorrow: TQ Paper Women's Two-day, Stage One (11.0). Stage Two (4.0).

SUNDAY: TQ Paper Two-day, Stage 3 (10.0).