Cycling News round-up Irish professional Philip Deignan will today attempt to bounce back from a training accident and ride strongly in the time trial that gets the European under-23 road-race championships under way in Moscow.
The Ag2R Prévoyance rider had a morale boost last Sunday when he took his first pro win in the 1.1-ranked Tour du Doubs but then experienced a downswing in fortunes when he and team manager Kurt Bogaerts were hit by a car in the Russian capital on Tuesday.
Both are said to have minor injuries, and so Deignan's championship participation is not in question. The Letterkenny rider says the road and time-trial events are of equal importance to him.
"The plan is to go flat out for both of the races," he said this week. "The reason I decided to do the time trial is because I was going all right in some of them this year. So I thought I would give it a shot."
Deignan, a strong climber, is quite happy with the road circuit.
"The course is hilly, but it is more a case of short, sharp climbs. They probably don't suit me as much as the longer ones. But if my legs are good on the day, it should be fine."
He will be joined by national under-23 champion Páidí O'Brien and Tim Cassidy in the road race on Sunday. Before then, the promising Ciarán Kelly will line out in the inaugural junior championship there tomorrow.
Louise Harliwich won her third Boot Inn league race on Wednesday evening. The Lucan CRC rider started the handicap in the second group, two minutes clear of the scratch bunch, and together with UCD's Jean O'Connor managed to get back on terms with those up front.
A subsequent attack split the group and paved the way for a three-up sprint between Harliwich, Caitríona Jennings and O'Connor.
Róisín Kennedy (Irish Road Club) beat two other scratch riders, Jenny Faye (Orwell Wheelers) and Geraldine Meehan (Lakeside Wheelers), for fourth, and is 10 points clear of O'Connor in the league table.
Many of the same riders will be in action this Sunday in the sixth round of the Zoo Hair Salon National League in Lucan.
Meanwhile the six-day M Donnelly Junior Tour of Ireland gets under way next Tuesday with a 2.8-mile time trial in Castlebar and has attracted several overseas teams. Adam Armstrong (Dave Kane Northern CC), Fergus Keogh (Clonmel), Martin Munroe (Western Lakes) and Seán Rock (McNally Swords) ride for the Ireland squad.
FIXTURES: Saturday - 10-mile time trial, Newtownmountkennedy, 11 am. Portarlington Festival Race, 7 pm. St Patrick's Hill Climb, Cork (contact Victor Gough, 021 4374603).
Sunday - Ulster XC League Rd 4, Warrenpoint, noon. CI Downhill NPS Rd 2, Butter Mountain, Blessington, noon. Zoo Hair Women's Classic League Rd 6, Lucan, 2 pm. Barry Murphy Memorial (Classic League Rd 4), Monaghan, 1 pm. Echo Trophy points race, Munster (contact Victor Gough, 021 4374603).
