Brammeier appeals Olympic axe

The official announcement of the three-man Irish Olympic cycling team, which was due yesterday, has been delayed until next Friday after one of the short-listed riders who was not picked lodged an appeal to Cycling Ireland.

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale), Dan Martin (Garmin Barracuda) and David McCann (RTS Racing Team) make up the team, with Sam Bennett (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) the reserve rider, but Irish national time trial and road race champion Matt Brammeier (Omega Pharma Quick Step) has launched an appeal at his exclusion, feeling that he deserves a slot.

Several riders had met the initial criteria stipulated by the governing body for consideration for the Games, including the aforementioned quintet as well as Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) and Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles). But after that long list was trimmed back on Tuesday, Brammeier submitted a formal objection prior to the appeals deadline on Thursday night.

“It was part expected,” Cycling Ireland CEO Geoff Liffey said yesterday. “The Olympics only come around every four years, so people have the right to appeal. It’s a fairly transparent procedure — well defined grounds for an appeal before an independent panel. They’ll assess it and, if needed, it goes back to the selectors for reconsideration.”

That Cycling Ireland Selection Appeals Panel (CISAP) consists of Richard Archibold (Sport Institute of Northern Ireland), law practitioner Aideen Collard, Swim Ireland HP director Shane Keane, Cycling Ireland board member Anto Moran and Anthony Walsh, who has a Masters in Sports Law. Should they decide there are grounds for an appeal, the case will go back to the original three-man selection committee before a team decision is officially ratified next Friday.

The nature of the appeal is not known but bias and/or failure to follow the selection procedures are the only grounds on which an appeal can be made.

It will be Martin’s first Games, Roche’s second, and McCann’s third.