Irish Cross Country NPS

Lap count changes for 2016

Welcome back everyone!
We would like to start the preparations for the 2016 XC season with a proposal (to be decided upon at the 2015 offroad AGM) change in lap count format which we believe would improve the quality of XCO racing in Ireland (the U14, U16 and Women’s categories would benefit the most) and would prepare our riders better for racing abroad (UK and beyond).

Up to this year the Irish cross-country races were designed around having a senior course of around 20 minutes for the top end riders.  Going into 2016 we would like to shorten the lap length (in terms of time) to around 14 minutes which would provide more flexibility on the number of laps across categories and make the race more interesting for the spectators.

To sum up, the benefits of the shorter laps include:

– more flexibility in adding / removing a lap depending on weather conditions
– more flexibility on the number of laps across categories
– less course to be built and maintained for each race
– riders will ride through tech / feed zones more often
– there will be no need for a separate U14 course
– U16 race time will be slightly extended compared to 2015
– lap count in line with British XC NPS and World Cup XCO races
– closer racing across all categories, races more interesting for the spectators

Also, just a quick reminder that the 2016 XC NPS dates are as follows:

Round 1 – 17th April
Round 2 – 1st May
Round 3 – 22nd May
Round 4 – 5th June
Round 5 – 26th June
Round 6 – 14th August

XCO Nationals – 16/17 July
XCM Nationals – 10/11 September