Cycling Ireland has taken the step to select a long list squad for the men’s elite road team for the UCI World Road Championships in Rwanda from September 21st to 28th.

Taking place at altitude around the capital city of Kigali, the men’s road race is over 267km and features nearly 5500m of climbing.

HPD Iain Dyer explained the rationale behind the early long list selection; “From the moment the route was announced we have had very positive engagement from our Athlete cohort. We are lucky to have Irish riders consistently demonstrating their World Class ability over the last couple of years with very strong World Championship, Olympic, 1 Day Classic and Grand Tour performances in 2024 and this season. With this level of motivation & commitment to race for Ireland matched with the capacity to compete for podium results, we have been happy to support our Athletes ambition and target success in Rwanda."

We recognised some time ago that with the location, altitude and climate we would need to be on the front foot with plans, logistics and performance minded strategies if we were to give ourselves the best chance in Rwanda. In order to do that, creating a long list early and engaging in a dialogue with the squad regarding everything from feeding strategies to travel dates and so on would enable us to plan well.”

“There are special provisions in the selection policy to facilitate this which effectively creates a viable long list of potential athletes, and enables us to work with the group to do everything we can to make the event a success. There is scope in exceptional circumstances to broaden this group if needed, but these are the eligible riders at this stage and the team is looking forward to working with them towards the event.”

Click to visit the UCI Road World Championships website

UCI Road World Championships Long list in alphabetical order:

Eddie Dunbar

Ben Healy

Ryan Mullen

Darren Rafferty

Archie Ryan

Rory Townsend

An announcement of the finalised team will be made in due course.

This announcement comes on the same week as Irish Road National Championships take place. More information on the TT and Road Race events are available link here https://www.cyclingireland.ie/events/national-championships/road-national-championships/