The Cycling Ireland Road Commission have named eleven riders for the Kreiz Breizh Elite race in Brittany. The French UCI race that is part of the UCI Europe Tour. Competition takes place on Thursday 26th July for the women’s race, and from Saturday the 28th July to Monday 30th July for the men. Ireland will be fielding a six man team and a five woman team, including in form Elite National Champion Eve McCrystal and U23 National Champion Darnell Moore.


Until 2007 the Kreiz Breizh Elites was an U23 race. The following year it moved to include elites, and since then it has been a popular feature on the European Continental Calendar in the UCI, taking place in central Brittany at the end of July.


This year it has expanded once more to include elite women, and the Cycling Ireland Road Commission have accepted an invitation to bring a team including elite men and elite women to the competition which is often used as a springboard event for riders to the UCI Pro Tour ranks.


Cycling Ireland Performance Coach Neill Delahaye is delighted to see Ireland fielding a strong team in the race, believing it reflects a rise in the standard of racing in Ireland domestically and internationally –


“The selection for both the men’s and women’s race is really reflective of a jump in the standard of racing in Ireland. It’s a progressive development from the Road Commission to provide this opportunity for the riders and hopefully is something we can build on for the future.


“We have had a great month of international racing, with competitive teams racing across a number of events in July. We are fielding two strong teams here, many of whom are competing domestically week in and week out, and that’s going to ultimately keep this forward momentum in talent coming through.


“There’s been significant development with the elite women in particular, when you look at a strong selection of Irish women in the line up for the Kreiz Breizh Elites, while we also have a large team of riders preparing separately for the European Championships in Glasgow the following week. It certainly is an exciting time for Irish cycling”


The Kreiz Breizh Elite Women’s Race takes place on Thursday 26th July. The Kreiz Breizh Elite Men’s event is a stage race of four stages, taking place from the 28-30 July.



Elite Women

Lauren Creamer

Aine Donegan

Michelle Geoghegan

Eve McCrystal

Katharine Smith



Elite Men

Jamie Blanchfield

Dillon Corkery

Darnell Moore

Ryan Reilly

Luke Smith

Adam Stenson