National and European Championships weekend

The sprint distance draft legal championships take place on Saturday in Athy with similar field size to last year. Racers make races and if the field size can stay consistent for a few years and maybe get back to the numbers seen in Lanesboro a few years ago the competition level will continue to grow and maybe we will see more draft legal racing again.

Subject to further additions to the entry list Emma O’Brien is the likely favourite in the women's race if she can get to the run near the front. Chloe Pollard, Erin McConnell and Katie Rodda can be expected to lead out the swim, with McConnell possibly the best runner, and while O’Brien has shown in the past she can swim at the front she may be in a group with Shannon Kelly and perhaps Shauna Doellken looking to bridge across. If it does come together there may not be much to separate the podium. 

Russell White and Jonathan Oakey were very evenly matched over the short Mixed Team Relay course in Lough Cutra last week with Ralf Bodamer just off them in the run. Dylan Nortje, 4th last year, returns to bring more international competition and will likely be in lead group off the bike. We can expect White and Oakey to be the front runners but they will need to be aware of fast runners in the field including Mathys Bocquet who was impressive in his recent Junior European Cup race.

While Susanna Rodriguez and Francesca Tarantello are the favourites for the women's PTVI race in the European Championships, Chloe Maccombe looks to be in a group fighting for 3rd to 6th with sister Judith just behind those. Chloe has beaten a number of those around her or been very close in the last year and this will be the first chance to see what progress has been made since her last race in Abu Dhabi in November. She goes in ranked 4th while Judith is 7th. An interesting prospect is Anja Renner who has not competed against any of the top ranked athletes yet but has excellent times in her 2 races this season and may cause a surprise.

Donnacha McCarthy goes into the men’s PTVI race ranked 5th and matching that would be a good result in a very competitive field. With the top 3 from last year's World Championships looking set to repeat there will be a mid field battle and with little separating the athletes on previous times slick transitions and keeping errors to a minimum could make a real difference.

24 of the top 100 in the world go in the Elite men’s race where James Edgar starts number 30. With 3 podiums this year resulting from some quick run splits, if Edgar is in a good position starting the 10K he could be well ahead of his ranking. This is a big step up in depth of field however and while his ambitions will be high a solid all round performance, and in particular a good bike leg, would be an indicator of what can come later in the year.