Irish team set for Manchester

CYCLING:SEVEN IRISH riders will take part in the opening round of the track World Cup in Manchester, with the programme starting today and running until Sunday.

A four-man team pursuit team will be drawn from David O’Loughlin, Stephen Barrett, David McCann, Aaron Buggle and Matt Brammeier, who has recently declared for Ireland.

McCann and O’Loughlin will do the pursuit and points race respectively, while either McCann or Brammeier will compete in the scratch event.

Irish road-race champion Heather Wilson and young talent Mary Costelloe will also line out, with both riders doing the points and scratch races.

Cycling Ireland’s high performance director Phil Leigh is hoping for good displays, while also saying that the first race of the season is unlikely to produce very fast times.

“The team pursuit squad is one in the process of rebuilding, and improvements on the four minutes 11 seconds set in Copenhagen in February are unlikely,” he stated. “A time below 4.16 or 4.15 would be ideal for the first World Cup event of the season.”

He said that qualification for the finals were the targets for the scratch and points races, with riders ideally achieving top 10 placings. Leigh added that a time under four minutes 30 seconds would be a good ride in the individual pursuit.

On Wednesday, Cycling Ireland launched its High Performance Strategy 2009-2012 document and pointed out that it worked on a shoestring compared to other countries.

“Our annual budget is €500,000,” said Leigh.

“Compare that to British Cycling who had a staff of 250 and a budget of over €22 million for its target of six medals at the Beijing Games.”

“We are responding to that reality together with the Irish Sports Council, who have been tremendously supportive of our efforts to develop cycling and to prepare for the Olympic Games even though its own annual budget has been reduced,” he said.

CI stated the push to take medals in the London 2012 Games is an uphill struggle due to “a lack of training facilities, limited financial resources and the carding scheme which funds its high-performance athletes”.

It wants State funding to be both preserved and also redirected towards the riders who most need it, with developing riders being favoured over ProTour competitors.

Leigh also wants to see funding going to squads of riders in each discipline, rather than specific individuals. There will be an emphasis on using these funds to enable these riders to go abroad to train and race. Track racing will be emphasised, but other disciplines will also be catered for.

“This is about laying the foundations for success. Anything is possible,” he stated. “But it goes without saying that the delivery of this strategy through to London 2012 is dependent on continued funding and support from the Irish Sports Council, Sport Northern Ireland, the Paralympic Council of Ireland and the Irish Olympic Council.

“Our ability to achieve success internationally runs in close parallel with our ability to maintain our financial resources at a time when sport in Ireland is living under the constant threat of being a soft target for cuts in Government spending.”

FIXTURES: Sunday: Ulster cyclo cross league, round three, Lisburn Civic Centre. First races at 11.30; IVCA AGM, West County Hotel, Chapelizod, 2.30pm.