Cycling Ireland have announced that the full Paracycling Squad expected to be selected for the Paralympic Games in London will kick off their preparations by participating in the 2012 UCI Paracycling Road World Cup in Rome from the 24 – 27 May.
A total of 5 Men’s and 2 Women’s bikes will travel to Italy including Double Road and Time Trial H1 World Champion Mark Rohan and Road Time Trial C2 World Champion Colin Lynch. Mark won the 2011 Road World Cup, winning all six events in the series. The other Men’s bikes are Tandem Track Pursuit World Silver Medallists James Brown and Pilot Damien Shaw, Cathal Miller in the C5 category and Enda Smyth in the C3 category.
Female Tandem Pursuit World Champions Catherine Walsh and Pilot Fran Meehan will be joined by Katie-George Dunlevy and Pilot Sandra Fitzgerald at the World.
Speaking at the announcement, Paracycling Manager Denis Toomey said: “With just 100 days to go to the start of the Paralympic Games the World Cup series provides an ideal opportunity to confirm the current level of preparation for London. It also lets us see the opposition we will face in London and allow us to fine tune the remainder of our preparation in the lead up to the Games.”
Leg 2 of the World Cup takes place in Segovia, Spain from 14 - 17 June, 2012.
The support staff travelling to Italy include:-
- Denis Toomey – Manager
- Brian Nugent – Coach
- Terry Cromer – Mechanic