Irish Riders Gearing Up for Cyclo-cross World Cup

Irish Riders Gearing Up for Cyclo-cross World Cup

With less than a week to go before the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup comes to Dublin, we caught up with some of the riders who were at the Sport Ireland Campus on Saturday to see what the course for the 2024 renewal is like. 

Excitement is building for what will be the second round of the 2024 series. The series got underway on Sunday in Antwerpen, Belgium. Fem van Empel won the Women’s Elite, ahead of last year’s Dublin winner Lucinda Brand. In the Men’s Elite the home nation filled the podium. Victory went to Eli Iserbyt, Laurens Sweeck was second and Michael Vanthourenhout was third. Sweeck and Iserbyt finished second and third respectively in Dublin last year. 

Click here for the full results from Round 1. 

The Sport Ireland Campus will be transformed into a hub of Cyclo-cross activity this weekend. As well as the purpose build 3,500m course, there will also be a second course for Under 6’s to Under 12’s, who will be racing on Saturday. 

The schedule for Saturday also includes Under 14’s and Under 16’s, as well as a range of support races who will get the opportunity to tackle the World Cup course. 

On Sunday all eyes will be on the World Cup, with racing getting underway at 9am for the Men’s Under 19 race. This will be followed by the Women’s Under 19 and the Men’s Under 23, all taking place before lunch. 

The Women’s Elite race will begin at 13:10 and the Men’s Elite race at 14:40. The elite races will see some of the best Cyclo-cross riders in the world come to Dublin. Full entry lists will be published in the coming days. 

A strong Irish contingent will be riding on Sunday and they are looking forward to putting on a green jersey to race in front of a home crowd. 

Caoimhe May will be racing in the Women’s Elite on Sunday. Talking about the new and improved course, May said: 

“It’s good, it’s a little bit different from the last two years, not a huge bit different but I quite like the changes. There are some more clusters and little bit less of the long straights, which suits me! It’s good!

Looking forward to putting on the Irish kit next Sunday, she added:

“It makes everything a little bit more special to have a national jersey on so hopefully I can carry on my reasonably decent season.”

Riding in an Irish jersey in front of a home crowd isn’t something that Irish riders get to experience very option, May explained just how special that feeling is. 

“To be honest there is nothing quite like it, I did it the last two years and the first year I was in my club kit and it wasn’t the same as doing it in an Irish jersey because even the people who don’t have clue who you are at least they know you are one of the people who is riding for Ireland on their home soil. It makes a big difference; people cheer for you even if they don’t know who you are.”

Reigning Irish Junior Men’s Cyclo-cross National Champion Conor Murphy is also looking forward to the challenge ahead. 

“I’m feeling really excited, I really enjoyed the few changes to the course and I’m feeling good on the bike so really excited and looking forward to it.

“I finished 18th here last year so I’ll be looking to do a few places better. I’ve had a bit of a slow start to the Cyclo-cross season, but I feel I’m coming right now so I’ll be excited to see what I can do.

“It’s super special that it’s right on our front door, it feels strange but it’s really exciting to see familiar faces around the track and at an event of this level.”

Ryan Daly will be racing in the Men’s Junior on Sunday. Describing the course he said:

“I can’t wait, it’s going to be great. The course is incredible and yeah, looking forward to it.”

Talking a little about his preparation he added:

“I’ve done about five races, they’ve gone well and I’m happy about how my season is going. It will be great to ride for my county and with all the spectators it will be great.”

Click here for tickets for Sunday.