Following the 44th and 38th placings for Dermot Nally and Scott Hamilton in the time trial events at the World Championships in San Sebastian on Tuesday and Wednesday, it is the turn of Mark Scanlon, David McQuaid, Emmet Hogan and Derek Finnegan in today's junior road race. Then, tomorrow, Michael McNena, Ciaran Power, Aidan Duff, Paddy Moriarty and Dermot Finnegan are Ireland's representatives in the Under-23 road race, while Geraldine Gill is in the women's line-up.
There will not be any Irish involvement in the main event of the championships, now titled the elite race for men, on Sunday. In the latest betting I saw on that, Andrei Tafi was favourite at 5 to 1, Michele Bartoli at 6 to 1, Laurent Jalabert and Alex Zuelle at 7 to 1 and Mario Cipollini a 10 to 1 chance.
But after Jalabert's triumph in the time trial yesterday from Andrei Gontchar and Chris Boardman, with the hot favourite Zuelle only 11th, the Frenchman will be at shorter odds to complete the double. At the UCI congress in San Sebastian, Pat McQuaid, the president of the FIC, was elected chairman of a select committee with responsibility for world road racing at under23, junior level and for women.
McQuaid was one of the 15 European representatives who had their first meeting on Tuesday, but when the main business of the congress was conducted on Wednesday, the UCI president, Hein Verbruggen, offered McQuaid the position as head of the second road committee.
Next year, McQuaid will be heading the team involved in staging the Tour de France prologue time trial in Dublin on Saturday, July 11th, and the first two road stages on the following days. I asked him if this task and his elevation to head the new UCI committee would mean relinquishing his FIC post, but he said he would be seeking re-election at the annual meeting next month.
McQuaid will be at the junior championship today to see his son, David, in action.
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