Cycling Ireland decides against sending team to world championships

Cycling Ireland has opted against sending a team to the upcoming world championships, citing a shortage of resources to fund the venture.

The 2022 UCI Road World Championships take place in Australia from the 18-25 September, however, the governing body believes that their limited budget is better utilised elsewhere.

A strong emphasis has been placed on European events, junior and under-23 riders this year, according to Cycling Ireland, who conceded that the world championships was "an event where success is far from assured".

"In the face of hugely increased costs for targeted high-performance events already completed and planned for the remainder of 2022, competing in Australia will stretch our resources far beyond what has been anticipated this year," said High-Performance Director, Iain Dyer.

"The UCI Road World Championships is also an event where success is far from assured. For the road riders, attending the European Championships in all categories this year was a significant commitment and one we felt we could manage effectively. The World Championships in Australia is a different proposition altogether."

Ireland sent 15 riders to compete at last year's Road World Championships in Belgium, including Eddie Dunbar, Rory Townsend, Ryan Mullen and Megan Armitage.

"It bears mentioning that going forward, the High-Performance Unit will need to be extremely focussed on achieving our strategic aims in major championship events across all disciplines," added Dyer.

"With the spend on all events becoming so high post-Covid, it's important that a projected outcome from attending an event is linked to key development aims, a qualifying process, or Olympic and Paralympic success.

"It’s important we don’t turn the taps off in other