Errigal Youth cycling tour returns to Donegal

The Errigal International Youth Cycling Tour is returning to Donegal for the sixth consecutive year from August 5th to 7th.
Errigal Cycling Club is looking forward to welcoming over 220 cyclists to what is now, not just the top youth race in the Irish cycling calendar, but a race that attracts the very best in youth cyclists from Ireland and all over the world.
The local club is delighted to be welcoming riders from South Africa, Malta, the UK and from all over Europe.
The competition promises to be fiercer and more competitive than ever before. Hoping to compete with the top cyclists in Europe are the provincial and Irish national teams who have in previous years won the overall team prize
This is a three day, four stage event based in the Churchill/Letterkenny area. Saturday morning will see the competitors sign on in Churchill village before stage one, a road race for all age groups, both girls and boys under 12s, under 14s and under 16s.
Sunday is a busy day for the cyclists with a time trial in the morning before the famous stage 3 road race which is without a doubt a spectator’s stage.
The atmosphere and scenes for the duration of the weekend can only be described as a reminiscent of the Tour de France with hundreds of spectators lining the road to cheer on the top youth cyclists in Europe.
Stage 3 on Sunday evening is the hardest and most famous of the four stages where the cyclists battle their way up the notorious climb of Keelogs, into Churchill. The support of the crowds for some of the cyclists will drive them to victory, while for others it would encourage them to get up the steepest section of the climb.
Stage 4 on Monday morning will see the cyclists leaving Churchill and setting up camp in Letterkenny for the morning for an exciting, unpredictable critérium which is a race that consists of several laps around a closed circuit, with the length of each lap just over 1km that has spectators on their toes as the riders who get lapped by the main bunch get eliminated from the remainder of the race.
The Youth Tour is always a competitive event, but racing aside there is an indescribable atmosphere in the Churchill village throughout the weekend.
Errigal cycling club would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the cyclists the best of luck in the event and hope that they enjoy their visit to Donegal.