2021 Eurocycles Eurobaby Junior Tour Cancelled Due To Covid-19 Restrictions

The 2021 Eurocycles Eurobaby Junior Tour has fallen victim to Covid-19 for the second year running.

The popular cycling event, which has been one of the highlights in the Clare sporting calendar over the last few years, was scheduled to take place from July 13 to July 18 this year with stages across the whole county.

A statement from the organising committee confirmed that the event has been cancelled with race director Alice Sherratt outlining the reasons behind the decision.

“This type of decision is never an easy one to take considering it is now, as of this very week, 12 months since our last announcement. It has become increasingly frustrating to try and assess the current environment and plan for a safe and successful international event of which we are confident that we could deliver. The level of interest from international teams wishing to come to Ireland and race continues to grow and by adopting the same protocols for international events as published by the UCI supported by Cycling Irelands own Covid-19 protocols, we feel
that we could have delivered a safe and successful event” she stated.

The statement outlined that the decision had to be taken in light of the “absence of a definitive plan that could facilitate the implementation of the various Covid Protocols required to deliver safe and successful international events. The uncertainty surrounding the adding of countries to lists for mandatory hotel quarantine has made it impossible to anticipate and plan for. We acknowledge and accept that there is still much fear within the local communities and it will take considerable time and effort to alleviate those fears and give local communities the confidence in welcoming international events once again to their regions when permitted to do so”.

It concluded that “we must be very clear in highlighting the challenges currently faced in Ireland by event
organisers for the benefit of our international teams who are so keen to come and compete here and how there is much work to do to recover from the social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.As soon as the situation within Ireland improves and we have a clear strategic plan that permits us to promote a safe and successful international event, we will be ready to do so for the benefit of our young cyclists development and to deliver some hope for their
futures”.