A 17-year-old cyclist from Andersonstown has been selected to represent Ireland in the Junior World Road Racing and Time Trial Championships in Glasgow next week.

St Dominic’s pupil Áine Doherty has been cycling for her local club VC Glendale since the age of six and will head to Glasgow to represent Ireland for the competitions between 5-10 August.

In previous feats Áine has cycled for Cycling Ireland and Cycling Ulster for their development squads in road racing, time trials, mountain biking and cyclo-cross where she ranks highly on the scoreboards.

As well as pursuing cycling, Áine hopes to go to university to train to become a dentist and is currently keeping up with school work as well as taking part in daily three hour training sessions as well as competing in local races.

Áine said: “Last year I was given the opportunity to represent Team Ireland at the European Youth Olympics in Slovakia where I placed tenth place in the time trial and 25th in the road race. 

“Since ending my youth ranking I progressed well and earned some good results across all disciplines. Since stepping up to junior racing in the cyclo-cross season I won three rounds of the National Series and was able to ride some big races including the Dublin Elite World Cup and Benidorm Junior World Cup. 

“I ended my cyclo-cross season on a high representing Ireland at the Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Holland. This year in the mountain bike I achieved my best ever result and took my first win overseas winning the first round of the British National series and also recently came second in my first Elite National Championships.”

Speaking on being selected to compete for Ireland in the World Championships Áine said: “In the road racing season I made the step up to racing with the elite women and enjoyed some good racing. I had the tough battle of balancing school exams with racing, and training, however I managed well and won two silver medals at the National Championships."

CYCLING: Áine Doherty after a race
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CYCLING: Áine Doherty after a race

Áine continued: “This meant my selection for the World Championships in Glasgow, which is an amazing opportunity for me, and I can’t wait to race against the best juniors in the world competing in both the Time Trial and Road Race. 

“However, it hasn’t been easy to get to this point and I have to go on a lot of trips overseas and all over Ireland to ensure I achieve the best racing possible. Some of these trips have been with Cycling Ireland or Cycling Ulster but a lot of the time the trips are self-funded by the help of my parents and without their continuous support I would not be in the position I am.”