Ben Walsh, pictured here as a member of the Ireland National Team during the Scott Junior Tour 2017, is making his continental European pro stage debut today. Photo: Sportsfile

Mayo cyclist making continental European pro stage debut

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Westport's Ben Walsh is making his continental European pro stage race debut in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain today.

Walsh (21) is part of the EvoPro Racing line-up for the first stage of the race, which started in Elche this afternoon and will finish in Valencia on Sunday (April 18).

Walsh's Ireland team-mate, Seán Nolan, will also be making his European stage race pro debut today.

The Westport native is a two-time Irish junior time trial winner (2016 and 2017) but suffered a bad crash at the National Road Championships in 2019. He is on the way back to a very high level in the sport.

Today's stage covers 168.9km from Elche to Ondara, with four categorised climbs – including two that are more than 7km in length.

Tomorrow's stage two spans some 179km, starting and finishing in Alicante, while there are four categorised climbs on Friday’s 165km-long third stage, the final one a 7km ascent to the finish line at the top of Alto de la Reina.

Saturday’s penultimate stage, a completely flat 14.3km time trial from Xilxes to Playa Almenara, should suit Walsh. The final stage on Sunday is a flat 91.2km cycle from Paterna to Valencia.

The EvoPro Racing team for the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana includes Jonny Brown, Jeroen Eyskens, Cyrus Monk, Oskar Nisu, Brendan Rhim and Vitor Zucco, in addition to Walsh and Nolan. EvoPro Racing is an Irish-based UCI Continental cycling team run by ex-professional Morgan Fox.

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