Ireland's top cycling talents head West this week

Ireland’s best domestic and international road racing talent heads West this week for the Junior, U23 and Senior Road Race and Time Trial National Championships.

TIME TRIALS

Thursday, June 25th will see NSN rider Ryan Mullen look to defend his TT National Championship in Swinford, Co. Mayo. Mullen comes into the event off the back of a strong Giro d’Italia performance but will have to fend off the challenge of APS Pro Cycling pairing Cian Keogh and former National Champion Conn McDunphy. EF Education Easypost rider Darren Rafferty already has an elite road race national title under his belt and after finishing third behind Mullen and George Peden last year in Navan will look to challenge again this year.

Darren is not the only Rafferty in action on Thursday. Younger brother Adam recently took second in the TT stage at the Giro Next Gen riding for Hagens Berman Jayco and looks to defend his U23 TT title, and last year’s junior champion Aliyah, this year riding with DAS Hutchinson, makes the step up into the adult categories and will look to make an immediate impact.

The U23 Men’s category also includes Adam Rafferty’s Jayco teammate David Gaffney and Bahrain Victorious rider Seth Dunwoody. Alongside APS rider Matthew Walls and local rider Charlie Kelly this category is sure to be competitive.

The junior categories this year feature a wealth of young talent, and with both titles lying vacant with last year’s winners progressing to U23 ranks, it’s all up for grabs. Emer Heverin recently look the overall women’s race at the Criterium National Championships and has been consistently strong on every outing since joining the Cycling Ireland High Performance Pathway Programme and CAMS Majaco this year. Another Pathway rider in Hugh Óg Mulhearne is always a threat and definitely one to watch in the Junior Men’s event, but will have his work cut out for him against Region Sud Cycling Academy pair Caleb McGreevy and James Armstrong as well as Cannibal B Victorious rider Rian McCrystal to name but a few.

Track World Champion Lara Gillespie lines out on Thursday in the star-studded Women’s category. The category features riders from all levels of pro cycling as well as the domestic ranks. Lidl-Trek’s Marine Lenehan, para world champion pilot Linda Kelly, Mayenne Monbana’s Fiona Mangan, Picnic PostNL and last year’s road race champion Mia Griffin as well as national track team stalwarts Esther Wong and Emma Jeffers are just some of the top names in an incredibly deep field.

Thursday’s TT also features the para cycling classes. So far this year Irish para cyclists have been incredibly strong on the international front, with multiple World Cup and European Championship medals already taken. Heather Jameson took two medals at her debut European championships two weeks ago, while Richael Timothy added more to her own extensive tally, with both looking to add a National Championship this Thursday.

In the tandem classes, Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin took a World Cup medal in Italy recently, but will face stiff competition from relative newcomers Ciaran O’Toole and Con Scully, having a strong first full season together. Former Rás winner Daire Feeley turns pilot on Thursday with stoker Ciaran Butler.

World champion pairing Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly don’t make the trip West together, leaving the WB title up for grabs between the tandems of Sinead Greenan with Claire Ní Reachtagáin and Jessica Kennedy with Lauren Garvey. Both Greenan and Kennedy have showed put in strong performances at every opportunity at home and abroad this season.

Castlebar CC play host to this year’s TT Nationals, this year featuring a 30km route from Swinford. Race HQ is at Swinford Amenity Park on the Kiltimagh Road, and racing is set to get underway from 6.30pm – a change from the original time of 6pm.

ROAD RACES

Saturday and Sunday will see riders now head for Cong, Co. Mayo as Cunga CC host the road race national championships.

Racing opens with the Junior men’s category on Saturday morning, getting underway at 10am.

Saturday morning’s race will feature riders a wealth of talent once again. 2025 winner Conor Murphy’s progression to the U23 ranks leaves the title open and there’s no shortage of riders ready to take hold of their first national title at this level. As with Thursday’s TT lots of eyes will be on the riders plying their trade with foreign teams, but domestic riders at this level can never be written off or underestimated.

The women’s race, getting underway at 2pm, features one of the strongest fields to ever take on an Irish National Championship race. Olympians, World and European Champions, previous national champions and a plethora of full-time riders will no doubt make this one of the races of the weekend.

Sunday’s racing gets underway at 10am with the Junior Women’s event, followed by the Senior Men at 12pm.

With last year’s top two in Rafferty and Greta Lawless moving to adult competition the race for this year’s Junior National Championship is wide open. Based on her performances to this point in the season, first year junior and recent Criterium National Champion Emer Heverin looks to be the favourite, but VW Breda rider Ffion Dolan is also one to watch.

Rory Townsend returns this year, looking to add a third road race national championship to his tally having taken the title again in Co. Meath last year. Townsend has only recently returned to competition with his Unibet Rose Rockets team following an early season injury but has performed well in recent starts. 2024 champion Darren Rafferty will line out again on Sunday, as will his brother Adam in this combined senior and U23 field. 2025 U23 champion Jamie Meehan went from strength to strength last season and signed a contract with Team Cofidis shortly after his title win, and will return to defend it this year. NSN’s Ryan Mullen will be joined by NSN Devo rider Patrick Casey at the start, with Bahrain Victorious’ Seth Dundwoody, Picnic PostNL’s Dillon Corkery and the APS Pro Cycling group all looking to stake their claim.

Race HQ for Saturday and Sunday will be at Cong Community Centre, with the finish just past McGrath’s Limestone on the R345 outside Cong.

Senior Men's Route

Junior Men and Senior Women do the same route

Junior Women's Route

Saturday 27th June

The racing will start at 09.30am with the Junior Men followed by Senior Women at 2pm.

Registration: Junior Men 7.30am - 8.30am / Senior Women 12pm - 1pm

Sunday 28th June

The racing will start at 09.30am with the Junior Women followed by Senior Men at 12pm.

Registration: Junior Women 7.30am - 8.30am / Senior Men 10am - 11am