The calendar of events for Cycling Ireland’s National Road Series Cycling has been revealed, with the revamped series spanning the race calendar and incorporating, for the first time, the Joe Daly’s Women’s National League as part of the series.
This is the third year that the road racing series will take place, with the men’s event primarily aimed at A1 and A2 riders. The women’s event is open to all women who hold a full competition licence. The National Road Series events sit within existing races across the four provinces, and this year will feature seven counting events.
The unique structure of the series offers an exciting element to the race scene, encouraging riders to compete consistently throughout the season, and thus pushing up the standard of racing for all riders. Run by the newly formed Cycling Ireland Road Commission, the aim of the series is to increase the standard of road racing and to give domestic riders a chance to develop to their potential.
Seven events take place throughout the season with all races counting towards the overall National Road Series leader board. Double points will be awarded at the last event, and points are awarded for the first twenty in each event.
Road Commission member Tim Barry believes the National Road Series adds an exciting element to the race scene and encourages riders to compete consistently throughout the season: “This is the third year of the National Road Series, and each year it’s getting better. This year we have seven races across the calendar spanning the racing season so the competition should be good in each one. Having one key race each month from March (Des Hanlon) to September (Laragh Classic) will bring the best riders together on a regular basis and raise the standard of racing across the country.”
This is the first time that the Joe Daly’s Women’s National League will be run as part of the National Road Series, with the races held over the same routes as the men for all events other than the Shay Elliot in May.
Barry welcomes the new addition to the race programme: “We are delighted to announce that this year the Women’s League will be incorporated into the National Series, as it has been a key element contributing to the increase in the number of women racing; this is guaranteed to be an exciting series for both competitors and spectators.”
The full race programme for the National Road Series for 2017 is listed below, with racing kicking off at the Des Hanlon in Carlow on the 19th March.
