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Last Updated: 28 Jun 2023 - 12:48:15 PM |
2023 UEC Junior And U23 Track European Championships Team Announcement
By Gavin Quinn, Communications Officer, Cycling ireland
26 Jun 2023,
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Cycling Ireland are pleased to announce a team of six riders for the 2023 UEC Junior And U23 European Track Championships, which take place from July 11-16th.
Held in Anadia, Portugal, the championships represent a huge opportunity for some of Ireland's most promising track cycling stars to test themselves in high level international competition.
Ireland will travel with a team of two male endurance riders and four female endurance riders in the U23 category and are targeting strong performances in some stellar company.
With the senior women's team pursuit programme enjoying a strong start to the year in the Nations Cup and UEC Track European Championships, Ireland are excited to field an U23 women's pursuit unit at the championships.
Newly crowned road national champion and senior track national team rider Lara Gillespie is included in the team, Caoimhe and Aoife O'Brien are also selected having previously represented Ireland at international track events while Erin Creighton - who has represented Ireland at senior level this year - completes the U23 women's endurance selection.
Aaron Wade and Stefan Caulfield-Dreier have been selected in the U23 men's endurance category and will be hoping to gain some important experience in international competition.
Iain Dyer, Cycling Ireland High Performance Director, said:
"With 24 expressions of interest coming in for the event, it was our longest selection panel meeting this year! There were some hard decisions to make. I am pleased to see some strength and depth building once again in the men’s U23 endurance category, and will be delighted to see a Women’s U23 Team Pursuit team take to the start line as well."
"A key outcome for us is that we need to do more to support the development of our younger riders wanting to step up to Championship level. Making a sudden jump from domestic and often outdoor competition into a European Championship indoors is a big step. Having seen that first hand myself over many years, I don’t think many appreciate how big that jump is. We’re now in the realm of junior female sprinters qualifying in 11.2 or an U23 male riders doing 4:13 for an individual pursuit – that’s quite some achievement."
"My hope is with the recent appointment of a full time High Performance Development Coach, we can drive a lot more activity in the coming years to support our aspiring younger track riders so they will be well prepared in future to make the most of opportunities like this."
Ireland Team
U23 Men's Endurance
- Aaron Wade
- Stefan Caulfield-Dreier
U23 Women's Endurance
- Lara Gillespie
- Caoimhe O'Brien
- Aoife O'Brien
- Erin Creighton
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