Road champion Dervan tackles French five-day

Cycling: Irish road race champion Siobhán Dervan will tomorrow line out in the 2.2-ranked Trophée d'Or, a five-day race in France.

Dervan has shown good form of late, placing 40th of 137 finishers in the 1.1 Sparkassen Giro Bochum last Sunday, having been part of the bunch sprinting for 10th place. She was 33rd a week earlier in the 1.2-ranked Holland Hills Classic, coming home in the 35-woman bunch going for ninth place.

Meanwhile Daniel Martin has also been going well. The 19-year-old placed sixth on Sunday in the 1.2-ranked Trofeo Internazionale Bastianelli in Italy and looks a strong bet for selection for the Irish team for the under-23 world road-race championships later this year.

Mark Scanlon and Nicolas Roche are currently riding the Eneco Tour of Benelux. Scanlon placed 63rd on yesterday's 176.9-kilometre stage to Hoogeveen in The Netherlands. He was in a group that finished nine seconds behind the winner, world champion Tom Boonen (QuickStep). Roche was in the same group, placing 154th.

Boonen leads overall heading into today's 194.6-kilometre leg to Sittard-Geleen. Roche and Scanlon are 97th and 104th overall, 41 and 42 seconds back.

This weekend will see national championship events at three locations. The National Criterium will be run in Westport tomorrow evening, and large crowds are expected.

The Irish Youth Championships will take place in Emo and Portarlington. Over 150 are expected to compete in three separate events, the first a relatively flat three-mile time trial starting at 10am tomorrow.

Later in the day the riders will tackle a criterium championship on a two-kilometre circuit in Portarlington. Sunday's road race, on a 10-kilometre circuit, will complete the programme.

The Terry Dolan-sponsored national track championships will be held in Dublin's Sundrive Road velodrome. Tomorrow sees the qualification rounds and finals for sprints and pursuits; Sunday sees the 500-metre time trial and scratch races.

FIXTURES

Saturday: National Criterium championships, Westport, 7.30pm.

Saturday/Sunday: Edenderry Power Irish Youth Championships, Emo and Portarlington. Starts 10am Saturday. Terry Dolan National Track Championships, Sundrive Road, Kimmage, 11am. Contact Will Byrne at 086 8047839.

Sunday: Westport Grand Prix, noon. Karl McCarthy Cup, Glounthaune, noon. Billy Stewart Cup, Derrymacash, 1pm.