Cycling Round Up

CYCLING IRELAND REPLIES TO WORLD’S DEBATE: 

(By Shane Stokes Sep 30) The IrishCycling.com message board has been buzzing in recent weeks as the countdown to the world championships continued. The selection of riders, the size of the squads and the number of officials have all been hot topics on the forum, with some postings being critical of Cycling Ireland.

Like many governing bodies, CI’s policy is not to reply to such forums and so IrishCycling.com approached the federation directly to get their feedback on the matter. CI CEO Stuart Hallam gave a frank response to the questions, stressing out that he had been willing at all times to discuss the matter with those who contacted him directly, rather than posting an anonymous contribution on the message board. His responses follow below.

IrishCycling.com: Cycling Ireland has decided not to enter a full squad of riders in some of the world championship events. What is the reasoning behind this decision?

Stuart Hallam: ‘Basically, the days are gone when nations send a full quota of riders to the worlds, irrespective of the ability of the riders to get a result and irrespective of cost. For example, the British are sending only three juniors and four espoirs to Hamilton. I sponsor an English junior called Bruce Edgar, who was 3rd in the UK nationals, won a hilly Buckley race earlier in the year, won a stage in the Junior Tour of Wales and, earlier this month, won a stage in the Aacht van Laden, where the 6 Irish riders were unplaced. Bruce has not been selected for Hamilton, because the British do not believe that he would make the top 20 (their criteria). I agree with them that my guy should not go - horses for courses and all that.’

So what was the criteria for selection?

‘Cycling, like all other sports, has become very competitive and that we are in a situation where achievement, rather than resources, is the limiting factor. We are in a very competitive situation with other sports for funding and if we do not achieve at International level we will not get funding, it is as simple as that. The Irish Sports Council rightly expects sports to perform at a high level and, if a particular NGB does so consistently, then the funding will follow. Furthermore, the ISC rightly monitor the prudence of our High Performance expenditure. Cycling Ireland’s selection strategies are against this background.’

‘As far as we are concerned we are sending riders whom the selectors say have a realistic chance of making the top thirty in their event. It means that there will be disappointed elites, juniors, women and under 23 riders. I personally respect the selectors for having the courage of their convictions. They are not sending riders who they believe, rightly or wrongly, would taking a kicking and they are not wasting members money in sending these riders on an expensive trip.’

‘Obviously there are riders that are disappointed, but I have to say that this federation does invest heavily in the under 23's and will continue so to do whilst ever I am around. We have had over 1000 bed/nights in the house in Belgium this year, we sent a full quota of 6 riders to the U23 European Champs in Athens, teams to Liege-Bastogne-Liege and other classics. All in all we are giving these young guys the experience that they need and rightly so. I say this objectively as the parent of an U23 British international who gets nowhere near the opportunities of his Irish counterparts and has to find his own world-class competition at his own expense. Cycling Ireland do not believe that the worlds is the arena for gaining experience but the other events certainly are.’

‘I have personally written to the short-listed, non selected riders expressing my support and the undertaking to continue to keep them on the radar screen, particularly as they will all be U23 riders next season. I don't suppose that my comments ease the disappointment of the young guys but, hopefully, they will understand where we are coming from.’

What about the speculation that fielding less-than-full teams will restrict the amount that Ireland can send in the future?

‘With respect to the question of the UCI holding a gun to our heads and restricting our future participation, I can find no such regulation over and above the normal qualifying rules, although I am aware of the rumour. What I can tell you is that the British are now down to just three espoirs and three juniors so, if the scaremongery had any credence, then they will not be at the races in the future either! I don't want to hold up the country of my birth as a shining example, but, as I understand it, Kieran Page has decided not to accept his automatic place in the under 23 race as he considers that he would not feature. Yes, that's Kieran Page, the British U23 champion and one of the star men in the Rás. What a difference in mentality!’

‘The UCI regulations for the U23's dictate that the first 25 riders of different nationalities in Hamilton will qualify 5 riders for Verona 2004, the next 10 nations will qualify 4 for Verona and all the rest will qualify 3. Any realist would argue that, if we cannot feature in the first 35 different nations this year, then 3 for 2004 is the maximum that we would deserve to send to Italy anyway! I believe that our U23's are very good and I am confident that one of the chosen riders can make the top 25 nations, which probably means the top 50 in the event - all three are capable of that!’

‘What I find extraordinary is that no-one has said in the postings that, such and such, who is not selected, might stand a chance to win it, or win a medal, finish in the top 20 or even finish at all! What would people say if we sent a full team, at high expense, and only one finished? I suppose that we have changed at Cycling Ireland in as much as, although we are spending more than ever on our international programme, we have entered a new era where we are spending the members and Sports Council money wisely rather than willy-nilly. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on that wisdom.’

There has been speculation that one of the riders on the Junior worlds team was told back as far as the Spring of this year that he would be riding in Hamilton. What is your response to this?

‘As I have explained a few times in the past, I do not wish to give any opinion on any one selection. However if you were to ask me if ANY rider had been pre-selected months ago, I can categorically state that nobody was informed of their selection before the Junior Tour. Two riders from the same club were informed of their worlds selection between the Junior Tour and the Junior Tour of Wales, in order to get their preparation for peaking planned well in advance. The final two places, from a short-listed five riders, were not decided until after the Irish championships on 31st August and were communicated to the riders earlier this month, just before I issued the press release. I am satisfied with the integrity of the process and believe that each selection is based on riders, who the selectors believe, are likely to excel on the worlds course. The suggestions that one rider knew of his selection some months ago is nothing more short of fabrication.’

Why then did CI not respond to the postings on the message board, and so give their official version of things?

‘It is not our policy to communicate with our members via internet forums. I am personally approachable but I will not respond to any anonymous postings (who may or may not be CI members) on the net. I will comment to yourself and press colleagues on any matter and also to anyone else with a proper name who wishes to contact me. If people want to ring me or talk to me face to face, that is fine. I will not discuss the individuals selected, only the principles of the selection.

Team selection is, and always will be, an emotive subject and, in many cases, the decisions of selectors will be subjective. From what I have explained, readers will understand that Cycling Ireland will continue to invest in athlete development and riders will only be sent to major championships when the are ready to get a result for the country. If you like then that is the official party line, harsh as it may sound.

Some people have queried the number of officials who are being sent to Hamilton, suggesting that the team could get by with less. How do you respond to this?

'It makes no sense for any Irish team to travel to the Worlds without an adequate support team. Unless one has worked at a World championship, it is easy to under-estimate the volume of work that is needed to support a team of 10 athletes. For example, how long is the tenth rider prepared to wait for his/her massage each day when there are meal times and sleep to work around? To imagine that one masseur is sufficient would be to relegate Ireland to being a second-rate nation and that is neither the mandate of the members or the Sports Council. Likewise, when one group are at an event, do we really want the rest to be cleaning their own bikes after a training ride or is it the case that we go properly with two mechanics or not at all? Do we want the riders to drive the buses themselves the 80 mile round trip to the mandatory managers meetings or do we send managers to do that and to act on the various communiqués?’

‘Frankly, having worked on teams for years, I think that, even with the 6 officials, we will be fully stretched with riders in 8 different championships, particularly with the distances involved in North America. I am afraid that the minute we decide to compete in more than one event, then duplication of the key roles of manager, masseur and mechanic is a necessary requirement. I am only grateful that Ireland has quality officials that are prepared to support the team unpaid, and, in many cases, actually suffering loss of earnings’

What are you expecting from the Irish squad at the worlds?

‘All in all, we have had a massive year and I believe that the Irish team for Hamilton is one of the best prepared squads ever. Of course, we have already qualified 2 road places for Athens 2004 via the B Worlds. Also we made the decision to send a full women’s team to the B worlds and they performed very well. This will be a platform for development in the future and there is still a chance that the performance achieved will result in an Olympic qualifying place. We sent a track team who were novices and they came away with a medal and a possible qualifying spot, and the real win in that situation was the fact that we proved that a programme, properly designed, can work. Ray Clarke's bronze medal was a real bonus. We just happened to acquire the services of a track legend in Chris Boardman to help us complete the programme and we hope to replicate such focussed programmes for other events in the future.

I am confident that the team will do really well, and it is great that we have the opportunity for our team to secure further funding with their performances. I wish them the very best of luck.’

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