Irish cycling has received a significant boost with the news that a round of the UCI cyclo-cross World Cup has been confirmed for Dublin for later this year. A round was held here for the first time ever last December and following a comprehensive review by Sport Ireland, the race will be hosted once more on that organisation’s campus in Abbotstown.
The races are listed for November 26th on the UCI’s calendar for the 2023-2024 cyclo-cross season and, in an improvement over last year, will include official World Cup races for the junior and under-23 categories.
Sport Ireland and race organiser Flanders Classics will collaborate on the project, as was the case in 2022.
“We’re delighted. We’re very happy to see it,” Sport Ireland chief executive Dr Una May told The Irish Times soon after the announcement on Wednesday.
“The key thing for Sport Ireland is that we see our role as the development of sport. As part of that, we recognise the importance of hosting international events. Ireland, and sport in Ireland, has to be taken seriously at an international level. And I think if we can prove that we can organise events of this calibre successfully, that puts Irish sport on a particular level.
“It also gives us the opportunity to promote the campus and what we have available to us on this campus in Ireland at the moment. And we’re very fortunate with that. I suppose with the future development of the velodrome, investing in cycling is just part of ... it’s recognised in the national sports policy as a priority sport for support. So on the whole, from a lot of different perspectives, it’s very important to us to be able to support an event like this.”
The inaugural race on December 11th attracted some of the top names in the sport, with Tour de France star Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) winning the men’s event and eventual World Cup victor Fem van Empel (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) taking the women’s contest.
An estimated crowd of 8,000 spectators attended, something hailed by Flanders Classics as very positive for a race outside the traditional cyclo-cross heartlands of Belgium and the Netherlands.
May believes that attendance figure can be expanded upon next time around. The race was organised at short notice after it replaced a round originally planned for London and, with a longer lead-in time, there is greater scope to publicise the event and also to encourage more big name riders to attend.
Sport Ireland had originally hoped to hold the race again in December, as was the case two months ago. Instead it will run in November but, as a compromise, the UCI has given a green light for the youth events to be given World Cup status as well.
“What’s really, really important for us is that the fact that we’ve been successful in getting an under-23 and junior World Cup, that’s really important for us,” May said. “Because from our point of view, we have we have a lot of different considerations and, most importantly, it’s the legacy for the sport. To be able to have a World Cup race for the juniors and under-23s is really important for the legacy of the sport.”
It is also crucial for the Irish scene, which lacks top-level cyclo-cross riders at the elite level but which has several promising younger competitors.
May confirmed that the full funding is in place for the event, with organisers Flanders Classics, Sport Ireland and partners Fáilte Ireland and Fingal County Council all contributing to the budget.
“Flanders Classics are enthusiastic,” May said. “They were very happy with it last year. And the cyclists gave us very good reviews, which is also very important as well. It seems like everybody enjoyed it and everybody felt it was a success. So it something for us to build on, for sure.”
Cycling Ireland interim chief executive Chris Kitchen hailed the news. “The inclusion of UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Dublin in the 2023-24 season is a testament to the success of the event last December. Eight thousand Irish fans created a fantastic atmosphere at the Sport Ireland Campus and we’re delighted to see their support and dedication to the sport rewarded with Dublin’s inclusion on the schedule.
“We’re looking forward to working with all the stakeholders involved in the coming months to help make the 2023 edition even bigger and better. We also want to see the event create a longer term legacy and inspire future generations of cyclists.”
