Irish riders on track for Manchester

NEXT WEEKEND sees the start of the 2009/2010 track World Cup with the hosting of the first round in Manchester. A number of Irish riders are training in Aigle, Switzerland, readying themselves for the contest.

David O’Loughlin is rebuilding strength after a bad crash earlier this year and is preparing hard with fellow competitors Martyn Irvine, David McCann, Aaron Buggle and Stephen Barrett. Also present is O’Loughlin’s An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Seán Kelly team-mate Matt Brammeier, a former British junior and under-23 national champion.

He has Irish grandparents and, according to Cycling Ireland’s high-performance manager Phil Leigh, is likely to compete for Ireland henceforth.

Another who is in Aigle is Irish road race champion Heather Wilson. She will join up with the US-based Mary Costello in Manchester, with the duo likely to ride the women’s scratch and points races. Four of the male riders will line out in the team pursuit, with one rider possibly going to do the individual pursuit.

O’Loughlin, who finished second and third in the latter contest in last year’s World Cup, indicated recently to The Irish Times he is likely to do the team pursuit only in Manchester as he is still returning to form.

Leigh said the final line-up for that contest will be decided in the days ahead.

“The big, sad event that has overshadowed everything this year has been the death of Paul Healion,” he said, referring to the track and road rider who was killed in a car accident in August. “That was tragic and as a tight-knit community, we are all still recovering from that.”

Healion was an integral part of the Ireland team pursuit squad that finished fifth and seventh in World Cup rounds last year, and his place will have to be filled.

Cycling Ireland’s high performance commission is studying plans for next season, with riders being considered for places on various squads. A women’s squad is also being finalised and is expected to lead to greater opportunities for them to race abroad.

As announced on Wednesday, the Seán Kelly Academy in Merchtem is to close, and this will also have an effect on plans for 2010. The academy was previously used as a base for the An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Seán Kelly team as well as for Irish riders racing in Belgium, but financial prioritisation plus its under-use has led Cycling Ireland to seek alternative strategies. The An Post team will continue in 2010.