Cycling Ireland wishes to clarify the regrettable cancellation of the 2017 Ballinrobe 3 Day Road Race and further racing events run by Western Lakes Cycling Club resulted from a clash with two other established races held over the May Bank Holiday Weekend in 2016.
The Ballinrobe stage race is a popular event that had been organised in August for a number of years. Its move to the May Weekend in 2016 was met with objections, which Cycling Ireland upheld in accordance with the following rule:
CHAPTER G8 – CALENDAR point 10 –
“In preparing the road racing calendar dates will be reserved in advance of seeking general race applications for the following:
c) Established race dates.
Definition of an established race as outlined in our technical rules.
ESTABLISHED RACE: An event run on the same date, weekend or specific holiday for a period in excess of 5 years will become an Established Race.
Cycling Ireland engaged with all parties in order to seek a compromise but was unable to reach an agreement. The consequence on being asked to move the Ballinrobe 3 Day Road Race to another date in the calendar was unacceptable to Western Lakes CC, who regrettably cancelled other planned racing events by the club for 2017.
Cycling Ireland would like to recognise the contribution of Western Lakes CC to promoting cycling in Connacht and will endeavour to review its calendar rules with the aim of offering greater flexibility in the future.