Hi °C | Lo °C Belfast’s David McCann will take part in his third Olympic Games after the make-up of the Ireland road race squad has finally been settled.
The 39-year-old will now join up with Tour de France riders Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin in the Olympic road race on July 28th with McCann also riding the time trial a few days later.
The trio were nominated by Cycling Ireland last month but Matt Brammeier launched an appeal to change that original decision.
Brammeier was one of those who were unsuccessful under the selection guidelines of the sports governing body, which allocated points based on a combination of race results and selector assessment.
The appeals committee decided that his objection had sufficient merit for the selections to be weighed up again, but they also ruled that the original choice was the correct one.
Brammeier took the matter to the Olympic Council of Ireland and, while waiting on the decision, went on to win a third national title a fortnight ago but now the OCI has issued their verdict supporting the original choice.
In a statement the OCI explained, “The OCI's Appeal Tribunal met Mr. Brammeier's legal representatives on July 7th, and heard the lengthy appeal submission. Based on the findings of the tribunal the appeal was not upheld.”
It also added that Brammeier can still apply to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
McCann’s selection this time around is even more remarkable after a crash in the Tour of Korea in April where he slashed his thumb so badly there were concerns that the top of it may have had to be amputated.
However, McCann recovered to perform well at the An Post Ras to move into a qualifying position.
