World event hopes dashed

The prospect of Ireland staging the world cycling championships in three years' time looks to have been dashed following a decision made yesterday by Bord Fβilte to invest just £1 million in the project.

Pat McQuaid and Alan Rushdon of L'Evenement, who have been working on the plan to bring the championships to Kerry in the autumn of 2004, had sought £2.7 million in backing from the government in order to help finance the £4.7 million venture.

While McQuaid is unwilling to comment until he has been officially notified of the decision by Bord Fβilte, he had previously stated that full financial backing was necessary if the project was to go ahead. Now, with less than half of the required state funding being offered, the prestigious series of races look set to go elsewhere.

McQuaid and Rushdon had previously succeeded in bringing the Tour de France to Ireland in 1998 and were confident that they would secure the necessary support at next month's world championships in Portugal to win the vote for the 2004 event. While a number of other countries are in the running to host the championships, Ireland was known to have been one of the front-runners in the bidding, especially after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) president Hein Verbruggen spoke positively about the proposal a year ago.

Bord Fβilte were unable to comment yesterday as they had not yet communicated the reasons for their decision to McQuaid and Rushdon, but it is thought that a fear of doping scandals, such as that which marred the 1998 Tour de France, may have been an issue.

The Minister for Tourism and Sport, Dr Jim McDaid, had initially stated that the world championship bid would not be supported for that reason, although he later relaxed his position when cycling introduced a number of new anti-doping measures, including the first direct tests for EPO to be implemented by a sport's governing body.

Fixtures: Saturday: ICF track cycling workshop for women and underage riders. Starts 10 am at Eamon Ceannt track, Sundrive road. Contact Will Byrne at 086 8047839 for details. Sunday: Women's league race, Boot Inn, 12.0.