16 Irish cyclists funded by Sport Ireland, ex-Dutch international gets €18,000
Sport Ireland has funded 16 Irish riders for 2026 - the Irish track team and paracycling team, including a former Dutch international who has just declared for Ireland
The number of Irish cyclists being funded under the high performance carding scheme run by Sport Ireland has increased again after declining for the last couple of years.
Sixteen Irish riders share a combined €354,000, compared to 10 riders sharing €282,000 last year. In 2025 an additional €40,000 in ‘pool funding’ was also made available, not assigned to named riders.
One very surprising entry to the list this year is former Dutch para international Stephen de Vries. He is making his debut on the list of Sport Ireland funded riders 10 years after winning a bronze medal at the Rio Paralympics for the Netherlands, in the men’s individual pursuit.
He has been partnered on the tandem with track sprinter, Harvey Barnes. De Vries has been allocated the funding without meeting the results-based criteria set down for Irish riders hoping to secure funding.
There is some leeway for national governing bodies to effectively recommend to Sport Ireland that some athletes who do not meet the results-based criteria should be allocated funding anyway.
It is effectively a form of exemption mechanism. It has been used by Cycling Ireland in the past to extend an additional year of funding to a rider who previously met the criteria.
Lara Gillespie in her rainbow bands after winning elimination race bronze at the World Cup in Malaysia last weekend (Photo: Alex Whitehead-SWpix.com)
When that rider then failed to do enough to the meet the criteria again - thus losing their funding on the results-based criteria - Cycling Ireland effectively argued for another chance for that rider, securing an extra year of funding for them.
However, in that case, the rider who secured the extra year had already been previously funded on merit; securing the results required. This time around, de Vries is funded for the first time based on an exemption to the criteria.
While de Vries is not the first to avail of an exemption, his inclusion in the list, having just declared for Ireland, and so long after last racing at his peak, is a surprise.
Cycling Ireland told The Sunday Independent he had been included after he declared for Ireland last year – via his mother, an Irish citizen – and after he had met “performance targets” rather than race results targets.
Three Irish riders have been awarded the maximum €40,000 under ‘podium funding’ – meaning they are contenders for medals at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
They are Lara Gillespie – the former European champion, and reigning world champion, in the elimination race – along with the Paralympic and world champion tandem duo of Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly.
There are seven riders, all women, awarded €18,000 ‘international’ funding; the group that now makes up the Irish track team. They are: Aoife O’Brien, Caoimhe O’Brien, Fiona Mangan, Erin Creighton, Emma Jeffers, Esther Wong and national road race champion Mia Griffin.
Aside from Dunlevy and Kelly being awarded €40,000 each, and Barnes and de Vries being allocated €18,000 each, four other paracyclists have also secured funding for 2026. They are: Richael Timothy, Mitchell McLaughlin (Pilot), Damien Vereker and Josephine Healion (Pilot).
Sport Ireland | 2026 Funding
Cycling Ireland
Lara Gillespie Podium €40,000
Caoimhe O'Brien International €18,000
Aoife O'Brien International €18,000
Fiona Mangan International €18,000
Erin Creighton International €18,000
Emma Jeffers International €18,000
Esther Wong International €18,000
Mia Griffin International €18,000
Cycling Ireland Para
Katie-George Dunlevy Podium €40,000
Linda Kelly (Pilot) Podium €40,000
Richael Timothy International €18,000
Mitchell McLaughlin (Pilot) International €18,000
Damien Vereker International €18,000
Josephine Healion (Pilot) International €18,000
Harvey Barnes (Pilot) International €18,000
Stephen de Vries International €18,000
