CYCLING: Following the season debut of Mark Scanlon and Ciarán Power in the Tour Down Under in Australia last week, four of the six other riders on the provisional Olympic squad will shortly get their 2004 campaigns under way.
David McCann, David O'Loughlin, Philip Deignan and Denis Lynch will depart on Monday for Malaysia and their rendezvous with several top professional teams in the 2.2 ranked Tour de Langkawi.
The Hibernian Team Ireland squad will be completed by Paul Griffin, Eugene Moriarty and Tim Barry in the 10-day event, which begins next Friday.
Two places are up for grabs for the Olympic road race in August. With UCI world-ranking points the main criteria for selection, those aiming for Athens will be keen to start gathering results in big events. The Tour de Lankawi will offer the riders an excellent opportunity to build form, although the high quality of the field means it will make it a tough task to take ranking points from this particular race.
Cycling Ireland's preparations for the Olympics received a boost this week with the announcement of a substantial Athens Enhancement Programme grant. CI was awarded a total of €180,000 which will be used to fund the international road and MTB campaigns in the first half of the year and to provide backing for the Games itself.
In other news, four of the top six finishers in the national cyclo-cross championships have been confirmed for the Ulster championships to be held at Craigavon Lakes this Sunday.
National championship silver medallist Roger Aiken, his Banbridge CC team-mate Don Travers, Apollo's Andy Layhe and XMTB's Robert Lamont will be to the fore of the field scrapping it out for the title of Ulster champion in the Co Armagh event.
The championship is open to all riders, although only those from the province racing on cross bikes will be eligible for medals.
Fixtures: Sunday, February 1st: Ulster cyclo-cross championships, Craigavon Lakes. Support races start noon, main event at 1 p.m. More information from Myles at 048 38348627.
