Bennett sets sights on European championships as 15-rider Irish team named

Sam Bennett has been confirmed as leading the Irish team for the upcoming European senior road championships in Munch, Germany, giving him the chance to set a different target after missing out on the Tourde France.

Bennett had hoped to return to the Tour, having won two stages plus the green jersey there two years ago, but lost out when his Bora-Hansgrohe team decided to put everything into a podium bid with general classification contender Aleksandr Vlasov. They passed over Bennett and leadout man Ryan Mullen as a result.

The general classification campaign hasn’t quite gone to plan, with Vlasov sitting eighth overall starting Thursday’s 18th stage of the race.

Bennett will be one of five riders to contest the elite men’s road race on Sunday, August 14th. He will be joined by his Bora-Hansgrohe leadout man Ryan Mullen, Eddie Dunbar (Ineos Grenadiers), the new Irish road race champion Rory Townsend and his WiV SunGod team-mate Matthew Teggart.

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The 209.4 kilometre race begins in Murnau a. Staffelsee and finishes in Munich. The first half of the race will test the riders’ climbing abilities, but after that things are much flatter. The race will conclude with five laps of a city-centre loop, and could see a bunch sprint fighting for the gold medal.

A total of 15 riders will ride for Ireland across several different races. Mullen will also dispute the individual time trial on Wednesday, August 17th, as will national champion Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost). The 24-kilometre women’s time trial on the same day will see the gold and silver medallists from the recent national championships represent the country, namely Kelly Murphy and Joanna Patterson (Independent Pedaler — Nopinz).

The women’s road race will take place on Sunday August 21st. Irish road race champion Alice Sharpe and the runner-up, her IBCT team-mate Mia Griffin will don the green jersey. They placed sixth and 10th respectively on stages of the recent Baloise Ladies Tour in Belgium.

Ireland will also field riders in track and BMX events. Seven riders will complete in the velodrome, with JB Murphy, Alice Share, Mia Griffin, Kelly Murphy, Emily Kay and Lara Gillespie aiming for medals in endurance events and Orla Walsh hoping for a breakthrough ride in the sprint races. Last year Murphy took a fine bronze medal in the men’s scratch race, while the women took bronze in the team pursuit. The track races will take place between August 11th and 16th.

The 15-rider Irish team will be completed by east Belfast competitor Ryan Henderson, who will be Ireland’s first-ever representative in BMX Freestyle Park at a European Championships. The races run from Thursday August 11th until Saturday August 13th.

Henderson broke his neck in a motocross crash aged 16 and turned to BMX. He is aiming to become Ireland’s first BMX freestyle representative at an Olympic Games.

Team Ireland — European Championships, Munich, Germany. (11th -21st August)

Men’s Road Race: Sam Bennett, Ryan Mullen, Eddie Dunbar, Rory Townsend, Matthew Taggart. Men’s Time Trial: Ben Healy, Ryan Mullen.

Women’s Road Race: Alice Sharpe, Mia Griffin.

Women’s Time Trial: Kelly Murphy, Joanna Patterson.

Men’s Track: JB Murphy.