Cycling Ireland has opted to fill its full quota for the championships, selecting a six-man team for the road race and two riders set to compete in the TT. The road race team will be led by Ben Healy, who won a stage at the Tour de France in July and held the yellow jersey for two days.

His EF Education-EasyPost team boss, Jonathan Vaughthers, recently said the team was all-in in supporting Healy as he prepared for a full tilt at the Worlds.

Healy already has two top 10s on his palmares from the Worlds in Switzerland last year and the Olympic Games road race ; riding for a medal in each event but just being overhaul by chasers in the finals of both races. However, he has progressed even further since then and is a real contender for a medal in Rwanda.

The Irish team is :

Rory Townsend Q36.5 Pro Cycling
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost
Ryan Mullen Reb Bull Bora hansgrohe
Darren Rafferty EF Education-EasyPost
Eddie Dunbar Team Jayco AlUla
Archie Ryan EF Education-Easy Post

The elite men’s race will be run over 267.5km – with 5,400m of climbing – in Kigali on September 28th on a course between 1,400m and 1,765m above sea level.

The fact Ireland has qualified six places in the race, via its placing in the UCI Nations world rankings, means Cycling Ireland has been able to select all six riders who made the longlist for these Worlds.

Mullen and Rafferty will take part in the TT on Sunday, September 21st, with all six riders taking on the road race on Sunday, September 28th.