The Finnegan brothers, Dermot and Derek, of the Cuchulainn club in Dundalk, have been included in the teams to represent Ireland in the under-23 and junior events at the World Road Race Championships in San Sebastian on Saturday.
As Ireland is only 44th in the world rankings and just the top 30 nations are eligible to be included in the elite race on Sunday, there will not be any Irishman challenging for the title Stephen Roche won 10 years ago at Villach in Austria.
The under-23 team is Michael McNena, Ciaran Power, Aidan Duff, Paddy Moriarty and Dermot Finnegan. Scott Hamilton rides the under-23 time trial on Thursday. With Derek Finnegan in the junior event will be Mark Scanlon, David McQuaid and Emmet Hogan.
Geraldine Gill is the lone Irish contestant in the women's race. Belgian cyclist Johan Museeuw may be unable to defend the world road race title he won last year because of a urinary infection.
The 31-year-old Mapei team rider, who missed Sunday's Paris-Tours World Cup race because he was running a high temperature, had a series of tests yesterday which revealed the infection.
Meanwhile, Lausanne have had the year 2000 world track championships taken away from them.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) said that no replacement had been decided, but the Colombian city of Cali is likely to be one of the candidates as they have already hosted a previous championships.
Lausanne lost the right to host the championships because a recent referendum said no to raising any more money for building the stadium for the event.
