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Young riders heading to World Championships
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Ben Reid in action
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Sport Northern Ireland funded athletes Ben Reid and Conor McConvey have been selected for the World Mountain Bike championships, taking place in the north of Scotland at Fort William from 3 – 9 September.
Belfast’s Conor McConvey has just started to race competitively in the under 23 Category of the sport and will compete in this category at the forthcoming World Championships. As Connor is only 18, this will make him one of the youngest senior riders in the UCIs top 150 riders in the Cross Country Olympic rankings. He is currently the number one ranked top under 23 in Ulster and 2nd in Ireland, and is ranked 27th in Europe at this level.
Newtownard’s Ben Reid will compete in the Downhill division. Ben is Northern Ireland and Ireland's top downhill mountain biker and is currently number one in Ulster and Ireland, number 4 in Britain, number 6 in Europe and number 14 in the World. He is the highest ranked Irish rider since the days of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. In addition to Ben's current ranking, in 2004 he finished 4th in the Junior World Championships, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal. Ben has continued to develop as a rider and in three years has overtaken two of the three riders that finished above him in that event in world rankings.
Professor Eric Saunders OBE, Chairman of Sport Northern Ireland met with both Conor and Ben on Wednesday 29 August to wish them both well in the World Championships taking place next week.
“Sport Northern Ireland is delighted to fund great young athletes like Conor and Ben through our Athlete Support Programme and I wish them every success next week”
Ben Reid and Conor McConvey
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