Irish U23 champ Meehan signs for top French team after breakthrough season

Having first shown what he was capable of in his junior years, with 3rd in the National Road Race Championships, Jamie Meehan has since emerged as an established U23 international for road and cyclocross, with an U23 road title this year to prove his standing.

And now the 20-year-old is set to move from Spain, where he rode for Brocar Ale this year, to France after signing for a top elite them there. His new surroundings should bring the chance to take another step in his development after a breakthrough campaign in 2023.

Meehan will be part of the 15-rider CC Étupes line-up next year, joining the team as another Irishman, and Rás Tailteann champion, Dillon Corkery moves on after two years to French Continental team St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93.

Meehan, who has ridden for VC Glendale and Spellman Dublin Port on the home scene, took his best result this year at the National Road Race Championships in Co Tyrone. He beat U23 TT champion, Darren Rafferty, in a sprint for the U23 gold medal, finishing 7th in the combined U23-elite race.

Meehan also rode the Tour de l’Avenir on the national team and was strong enough to go on the attack on the final stage, while also making the Irish team for the World Road Championships in Scotland. With Brocar Ale in Spain he got a very solid season of exposure to much harder racing under his belt.

And his higher level really showed at the nationals, though he was also very strong at Kerry Group Rás Mumhan at Easter. He proved one of the strongest on the uphill finish of stage 3 to place 6th, though his 13th overall did not reflect the form he was in at the time.

Meehan has also been riding very strongly on the domestic cyclocross scene in recent weeks, winning a round of the Ulster Cyclocross Series and ‘Round 4’ of the National Cyclocross Series, beating national cyclocross champion, Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing), on the day.

He was selected onto the Irish U23 team for the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Dublin the weekend before last, placing 19th in the U23 race, which was an official World Cup event.