CYCLING:THE PROCESS to determine which rider represents Ireland in the mountainbike cross country event in Beijing gets under way on Sunday, with a strong showing in the first K-Capital International Cup race a priority for Robin Seymour and Niall Davis.
The duo are fighting it out for the single slot available in the Olympic event, secured thanks to the combined world ranking points total they and Conor McConvey had earned by the end of 2007. Multiple national champion Seymour was 49th in the world list with 386 points, while Davis was 86th (253 points) and McConvey 126th (177 points).
The latter has, unfortunately, broken a collarbone in an accident and will thus miss out.
Seymour and Davis will fight it out for the Olympic place in the first three rounds of the K-Capital Cup, starting with Sunday's opener in Kilruddery Estate, then in Moneyscalp Wood on March 23rd and Djouce Woods on April 6th.
World ranking points are up for grabs in each event, and the rider with the highest total will secure his place in Beijing.
Seymour has competed in two Olympics while Davis would be making his debut.
A strong international field has been secured for Sunday's race, with overseas competitors including the BCF Olympic squad of Oliver Beckingsale, the current British national champion, Ian Bibby, David Fletcher and Ross Creber.
In other news, it has been confirmed that the elite French VC La Pomme-Marseille team will send a strong contingent to this year's FBD Insurance Rás, which begins in Navan on May 18th.
The Marseilles club have in the past been the amateur team for Irish riders Mark Scanlon, Philip Deignan, Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin, each of whom went on to high-level professional contracts thanks to strong seasons with the French line-up.
While there are currently no Irish riders in the line-up, the four French and one Australian competitors heading this way are proven winners.
FIXTURES
Saturday: DWCC Grand Prix, Batterstown, 10am; Wallace Caldwell Memorial, Ballymena, 11am.
Sunday: K-Capital Cup International MTB XCO Series round one, Kilruddery Estate, Bray. Underage race 11am, main event at 1.30pm; Mick Cahill memorial, Banteer; Newbridge Credit Union GP, 12.30pm; RR/TT Intervarsities, Phoenix Park, 10am. John Haldane Memorial, Kilcoo circuit, 1pm.
