Cycling Ireland Junior and U23 Selection for 2022 UEC Road Championships and Track Championships
Cycling Ireland is opening an expression of interest form for Junior and U23 athletes ahead of selection for the UEC Road and Track European Championships.
The 2022 UEC Road/TT Championship takes place in Anadia, Portugal over 7-10th July. Also in Anadia is the UEC Junior and U23 Track Championships at their well-regarded indoor 250m velodrome over 14-19th July. Technical guides for these events may be found at www.uec.ch
Riders wishing to be considered for selection should download and complete the relevant excel file using the link(s) below and return to HPAdmin@cyclingireland.ie no later than Wednesday the 8th of June.
High Performance Director Iain Dyer outlined the process;
“Updating Cycling Ireland’s selection process has been a key piece of work for me in recent months. It was important to build a robust policy that is underpinned by an effective selection process and has the confidence of our members and stakeholders. I appreciate that everyone was desperate for it already before I started, but it’s critical we take our time to get it right. We are putting the finishing touches to it currently, however it is important ahead of a major championship like the Junior and U23 European Championships that we do this in a timely fashion and mirror the direction of travel we will be taking.”
Dyer went on to explain the significance of overhauling the selection process;
“The key aim of course is we select the best team or individuals we can, however we won’t be selecting riders or teams as a matter of course simply to fulfil entry quotas. The most important thing for ourselves and our funding stakeholders is that our selections are clearly connected to our aspirations to be as medal competitive as possible in major championship events within this Olympic cycle or next. It’s imperative selections can stand up to this scrutiny whether it’s our best young junior riders with their sights set on LA Games in 2028, or our existing elite riders thinking of this years World Championships on their journey towards Paris 2024.”
Following the 8th of June closing date for expressions of interest, the selection panel will conduct an information gathering exercise to collate all of the forms and supporting comments, and then subsequently reconvene within a week to conduct the selection itself.
Dyer added;
“It is essential that the process stands up to scrutiny. There’s no mystery here; the selection panel will comprise of our coaching staff and independent members where appropriate. It will be chaired by myself, but I will not get to vote on selections, and our new member of staff, Elizabeth our HP Administration Manager will be note-taker. The discipline lead will produce recommendations for the panel to consider, but where that lead has an active coaching role within that cohort or another conflict of interest, they won’t be a voting panel member in that discipline.”
Dyer continued,
“It’s a shame in this instance that the Road National Championships are so close to the UEC Junior and U23 European Championships, as we’ll be conducting selections prior to the Nationals, however we are well into our season now, and unfortunately the logistics that are dependent on selections are one of the biggest operations of the year and take some time to get right. I am confident that by the closing date we will have already seen our best young riders come to the fore however.”
Junior and U23 UEC Road/Time Trial Championships