CYCLING: The selection for the world championship elite time-trial will be decided tomorrow morning in Ballyboughal, North County Dublin, with the country's best going head to head for the right to line out against the professionals in Hamilton, Canada, next month.
The men's race promises to be a fascinating affair, because of recent events; earlier this month, Tommy Evans recorded a scorching time of 19 minutes and 23 seconds for 10 miles which, once ratified, should see him reclaim his place in the record books for the distance.
David McCann is known to have been training hard for tomorrow's test and, as the rider is set to lose his record to Evans, will have additional motivation on the day.
National time-trial champion David O'Loughlin will also be psyched; the Mayo rider had believed his victory in July was enough to guarantee him a ride at the worlds, but was subsequently told he would have to win the qualification event.
Ireland's female riders have a similar fight on their hands, with the best rider tomorrow to represent the country in Canada.
The remainder of the squad was announced by Cycling Ireland (CI) earlier this week. As expected, top Irish professional Mark Scanlon will be the country's representative in the elite road race.
Theo Hardwick, Barry Woods, Paul Brady and Mark Cassidy have been chosen to ride the junior championships, with Hardwick and Woods racing in the junior time-trial.
CI also named the under-23 team but have selected just three riders rather than a possible five; Philip Deignan, Denis Lynch and Nicolas Roche get the nod for the road race, while Roche will go in the TT championship.
Besides the qualification event, other important races are taking place this weekend. On Sunday the national criterium championships take place in Cork and should be a highly competitive affair.
The county also hosts the final round of the Irish NPS downhill series near Dunmanway, where Colin Ross and John Lawlor will clash for the senior title and Jamie Popham and Ben Reid go head to head for the junior honours.
Popham and Reid are both in excellent form, finishing a historic first and second overall in the British NPS last weekend, where Reid took the final round. Ireland's cross-country riders also race on Sunday, with the world-ranked final round of the National and Northern Ireland leagues taking place in Rostrevor, Co Down.
Finally, Cycling Ireland will hold a new type of skills competition for underage cyclists in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, on the 4th and 5th of October. More details from CI at 01 8551522.
Spaniard Pedro Diaz Lobato notched his Paternina team's biggest win of the season yesterday coming home alone to take the 143.8-km 18th stage of the Tour of Spain. Lobato, 30, clocked three hours seven minutes and 47 seconds after moving ahead 13 km from the finish.
Isidro Nozal still leads the Tour by three minutes, three seconds over ONCE team mate Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, with another Spaniard, US Postal's Roberto Heras.
FIXTURES: Saturday 27th: World championship qualification TT, Ballyboughal. First rider off at 10.31 am. Saturday 27th - Sunday 28th: Hibernian National Bike Week Coast to Coast cycle, call 1850 909 909 for details. Sunday 28th: National Criterium Championship, Cork. Sign on in Lee Rowing Club from 9.30, race starts noon. Underage races, 10.30. Further details from John at 021-4311956.
Cycling Ireland DH league round 6, near Dunmanway, Co Cork. Starts noon. Cycling Ireland XC league round 6, NI round 6, Rostrevor, Co Down, starts noon. Round Three, NI autumn RR league, starts 2 pm, Downpatrick circuit.
