Irish juniors well geared

Mark Scanlon from Sligo and Spanish-based Dermot Nally are first of the Irish into action at the world cycling championships at Valkenburg in Holland next week.

Irish junior champion Scanlon and Nally, who won that title last year and was second to Scanlon at Clane at the end of June, take part in the junior time-trial next Wednesday. National team director Richie Beatty has succeeded in getting two of the latest special new Trek bikes in Belgium for Scanlon and Nally to use in the event. Then tomorrow week Scanlon, Nally, Shane Prendergast, Stephen Gallagher and David Kenneally contest the world junior road race. They have been preparing in Holland and Belgium for two weeks and following Scanlon's triumph in the Junior Tour he added to his tally of successes with another win in Belgium last Sunday. Before leaving Valencia to link up with his Irish team-mates, Nally had a good win against the top Spanish juniors.

None of the four under-23 team members - Ciaran Power, Aidan Duff, Michael McNena and David O'Loughlin - will be in the timetrial for their age group on Tuesday but they have an important outing on Sunday in the Paris-Tours under-23 Mavic Cup race. Duff rides there with his Vendee U team but as selections of five are required Beatty had difficulty in filling places so that Power, McNena and O'Loughlin could be included. He has called in Eddie O'Donoghue and Kanturk man Paul Roland, who has been racing in Brittany with the FAS squad.

Then McNena, Power, Duff and O'Loughlin concentrate on the world under-23 road race over 10 laps of the 17.2 kilometres Valkenburg circuit next Friday. The elite time-trial is on Thursday with the road race for the top men on Sunday week.

Dermot Dignam heads a committee organising the FIC National Bike Day on Sunday, October 18th. It is part of the Get Active Get Cycling campaign and over 200 family outings are planned throughout the country with most of the Dublin clubs involved in different areas in the city. While I was on holiday in Florida - where one of the few cyclists I came across was a member of the group of 75 police who do about 30 miles a day on patrol in Downtown Orlando on bikes - the world mountain bike championships were on in Quebec in Canada and Northern Ireland riders took part in the Commonwealth Games. Robin Seymour was best of the Irish at Quebec, 52nd, while David McCann and Conor Henry were 12th in the time trial and road race at Kuala Lumpur.

Karl Donnelly aims to beat the Waterford-Dublin record on Sunday week. In September 1992 David Peelo lowered the record that stood for over 50 years to three hours 55.17 minutes for the 92 miles and Donnelly hopes to improve that by 10 minutes.

French police questioned the director of the professional cycling team Francaise des Jeux in Lille yesterday as part of a probe into a doping scandal which marred the Tour de France. He and Francaise des Jeux rider Emmanuel Magnien had already been interviewed by police after a raid on their hotel during the Tour de France in July.