Strong results across Europe and Canada in the past week, with Lara Gillespie leading the way on the women’s side as attention turns firmly towards the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal later this month.
Women’s Northern France – Gillespie Takes Podium
2026 Irish National Road Race and ITT champion Lara Gillespie, UAE Team L’IMAD, delivered an excellent third place at À Travers les Hauts de France on 12 September.
The race, which she won in 2025, finished in a sprint with Gillespie claiming the final podium spot behind winner Nienke Veenhoven.
Mia Griffin, Team Picnic PostNL, and Fiona Mangan, Mayenne Monbana My Pie, both also picked up UCI points by finishing 5th and 25th respectively.
The trio lined up again the following day at the punchy La Choralis Fourmies Féminine. This time it was Griffin best placed of the Irish with a fine top ten (8th).
Fiona Mangan was 13th with Gillespie a further 6 places back in 19th. Again valuable UCI points for all three as well as good end-of-season form.
Tour of Romania – Breakaways & GC Battle
Matthew Walls and Ronan O’Connor were central to the APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery Team action at the Tour of Romania (2.2).
On Stage 2, O’Connor marked his 23rd birthday in style with second place after an aggressive ride from the break, moving into second overall.
Stage 3, a tough mountain day of nearly 200kms with almost 2,000 m of climbing to an uphill finish, saw Walls spend around 100km in the early four-man break, with O’Connor coming agonisingly close for a handful of seconds to pulling on the race leader’s jersey.
Walls was once again on the attack on Stage 4 almost from the flag drop forging ahead of a relentless peloton with his breakaway companion. Real promise shown by the 18-year-old experiencing the first UCI breakaways of his budding career.
O’Connor lost his podium spot in the mountainous terrain and had to settle for 5th on GC when the race finished in Bucharest. A fine performance.
Vuelta a España – Dunbar’s Brilliant Stage
Eddie Dunbar, Pinarello Q36.5, produced one of the highlights of the Irish season on Stage 19 of the Vuelta a España.
The Corkman powered clear from a select group on the long climb to Peñas Blancas to take a superb solo victory.
This was his third Vuelta stage win and particularly sweet after a season interrupted by injury.
on the climb I saw a lot of riders starting to go backwards and that gave me a bit of a boost.
When Buitrago attacked, I knew I had one good effort in me, so I saved it for the right moment. Thankfully, it worked out.”
– Eddie Dunbar, Pinarello Q36.5
This particular mountain-top finish conjures up some great memories for Irish cycling fans as it was here that Nicolas Roche, Team Saxo-Tinkoff, pulled on the leader’s Red Jersey in 2013 having finished 3rd on Stage 8.
Unfortunately, bad luck struck again on Stage 20 when Dunbar crashed and was forced to abandon with a fractured collarbone.
Darren Rafferty, EF Education-EasyPost, had earlier featured on Stage 19 before a mechanical while attempting to pace teammate Carapaz towards the leaders.
However, what a blistering performance he put in the previous day on the 32.1km ITT from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera! 25th just behind Carapaz, and almost 2 seconds faster than 3rd on GC, Felix Gall. Sensational.
Canadian Classics – Strong Showing from Healy
Meanwhile, Rafferty‘s EF Education-EasyPost teammate, Ben Healy used the WorldTour Canadian races as ideal preparation for the Worlds on home-like terrain.
He finished 26th at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on 11 September.
Two days later at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal he was even better, placing eighth after featuring in key moves and staying with the leading contenders on the demanding Mount Royal circuit.
Belgium, France & Beyond
Excited to see Dillon Corkery, Picnic PostNL, back in action named to start the 2026 Gooikse Pijl in Belgium on Sunday 20th.
He had a solid ride getting his teammate Pavel Bittner into position in horrible weather last year.
Keep an eye on startlist for the 2026 Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen that takes place this Friday 18th to see if he is also named.
Sam Bennett, Pinarello Q36.5, and Ryan Mullen, NSN Cycling Team, lined up at the GP de Fourmies / La Voix du Nord on 13 September. The race finished in a bunch sprint won by Arvid de Kleijn, with Bennett 22nd.
The 2026 Irish National ITT Champion was a DNF and now turns his full attention to his 20th September rendez-vouz in Montreal for the World ITT.
Bennett for his part heads to Split for the 6-stage 2026 CRO Race, with Stages 2 & 6 of particular interest to the Irish fast man.
Meanwhile, Jamie Meehan, Cofidis, who has impressed with strong support rides and solid finishes in recent Italian one-day races, will be in the same neck of the woods.
The 2025 U23 Irish Men’s Road Race Champion has been named to start the 5-stage ~900km Tour of Slovakia. Following that he’ll head to Montreal where he’ll join up with the rest of the Irish Team.
Next Generation – Casey Heads to Abruzzo
Rising talent Patrick Casey, NSN Development Team, is the latest young Irish rider to keep the European momentum of racing going.
The 20-year-old, who finished 22nd at this year’s Irish National Road Race Championships and placed a strong 26th at the Flèche Ardennaise earlier in the season, is scheduled to start Il Giro d’Abruzzo from 15th September.
Solid youth classification rides at O Gran Camiño and Volta ao Alentejo earlier in 2026 underline his steady progress through the Continental ranks.
Eyes on Montreal
With the Vuelta concluded, attention turns firmly to the World Championships in Canada (road races and time trials from 20 September). Plenty to get Irish cycling fans excited about… On top of that, several more Stage races in Europe and further afield will also provide plenty of more action.
