Deignan finishes 14th in Euro U23 cycling c'ships

Grant Thornton Team Ireland produced a good performance at the European under 23 cycling championships in Estonia at the weekend, with Philip Deignan finishing 14th.

The race was a high speed affair run at an average speed of almost 30mph.

Philip Deignan from Letterkenny was one of the pre-race favourites and finished 14th from 220 starters despite widespread chaos following a mass pile-up with 400 metres to go.

The most unfortunate Irish rider was Tim Cassidy who was knocked off by a falling competitor when he was in a breakaway group with 10 miles to go, although he was not badly injured.

The other Irish cyclists all finished in the same time as the winner; Paidi O'Brien (Kanturk) finished 35th, Nicolas Roche (Nice) 42nd, Andrew McQuaid (Dublin) 61st Sean Lacey (Tralee) 84th..

Next Saturday Ireland’s Olympic Road riders Mark Scanlon and Ciaran Power line up in the men’s Olympic Road Race over 150 miles.

Both riders are in very good form with Scanlon having ridden the Tour de France and the Tour of Denmark.

Scanlon is rated in the top 130 riders in the world which is the highest ranking for any Irish road cyclists since the heady days when Sean Kelly was number one ranked rider for five whole years.

Ciaran Power, aged 28, from Waterford makes his living on the high speed criterium circuits of North America and he will be very suited to the heat and the technical nature of the course in Athens with its many corners and hills.

He finished 72nd at the road race in the Sydney Olympics.

Both Irish riders are very good sprinters and have tasted success at a high level. The highest ever placing by an Irish road cyclist was 17th by Martin Earley in Los Angeles in 1984.