CYCLING IRELAND National Road Series leaders James Curry and Grace Young are among 12 riders selected to represent Ireland at the Kreiz Breizh Elites road race in France next month.
Five days of racing begin on August 1 in Brittany with Team Ireland set to take on three Pro Continental teams - Arkea-Samsic, Vital Concept-B&B Hotels, Wallonie Bruxelles CT - and a total of 16 Continental-ranked teams.
Riders were selected based on a strict set of criteria, with special attention paid to performances in the Cycling Ireland National Road Series, Ireland’s premier domestic one-day road race series.
Present series leaders James Curry and Grace Young have therefore been given the opportunity to take on this international test, with Curry joined by last year’s National Road Series winner Conor Hennebry, U23 National Champion Darragh O’Mahony, and fellow leading U23s Luke Smith, Dillon Corkery and Liam Curley.
On the women’s team with Young is track international Lydia Gurley, last year’s National Road Series runner-up Katharine Smyth, National Road Race Championships silver Imogen Cotter, Criterium Champion Ellen McDermott, and Britain-based Lauren Creamer, who won round 5 of the National Road Series last season.
The Women’s Kreiz Breizh Elites two-day stage race begins on Thursday, August 1 in Callac, with the Men’s four-day race beginning a day later with a time trial in Ploumagoar.
Live coverage of both will be available on www.directvelo.com with regular updates on www.sitekbe.com and on Cycling Ireland’s social media channels.
The next round of the Cycling Ireland National Road Series is the John Beggs Memorial Road Race in Banbridge on Saturday, August 10.
KBE Cycling Ireland Men’s Team
Conor Hennebry, 26, Team Dan Morrissey-MIG.ie-Pactimo
James Curry, 21, Team Dan Morrissey-MIG.ie-Pactimo
Dillon Corkery, 20, Team Bioracer-DHL-FR Services
Liam Curley, 19, STRATA3 VeloRevolution Racing Team
Darragh O’Mahony, 21, CC Nogent-sur-Oise
Luke Smith, 20, Team Bioracer-DHL-FR Services
KBE Cycling Ireland Women’s Team
Grace Young, 42, STRATA3 VeloRevolution Racing Team
Imogen Cotter, 26, S-Bikes Bodhi Cycling
Lauren Creamer, 27, Team Brotherton Cycles
Lydia Gurley, 34, Aerocoach
Ellen McDermott, 30, Team Boompods
Katharine Smyth, 39, Ballymena Road Club
Directeur sportif - Frank Campbell