Success for Byrne siblings on the bike

It’s rare that you see two siblings excelling at the same sport, but that’s exactly what’s happening with Naoise and Jamie Byrne. Trained by their father, Adam, the pair have been cycling for years and the sport is well ingrained in the family.

Naoise is the star amongst the two of them, already having six national titles to her name, aged just 14 years old. She recently competed at the National Road Race Championships and managed to sprint to third place. Next up for Naoise is representing Leinster at the UK Inter-regionals Track races in Glasgow later this month. Although she has a National title on the track, this will be her first time racing track indoors and is really looking forward to it.

“I can’t wait to get racing on the indoor velodrome track in Glasgow. I’ve trained there before and it’s an amazing facility. The funding for our velodrome in Dublin was confirmed this week and it’ll be super to get going on that once it’s built. My training at the moment is focused on getting the best results for the Leinster team in Glasgow, so I’m up to Dublin a few times a week and train there with my teammates”.

Naoise went into National Road Race Championships on the back of cycling in Holland and Belgium where she went with the hope of gaining experience and developing her skillset in this type of cycling. Racing on continent is quite different to racing in Ireland. In Ireland, the numbers of riders in a race tends to be smaller, making it easier for the stronger riders to make their way to the front. Races on the continent do require riders to be strong, but also to have the skills and experience to make their way through the bunch. The races were fast and furious, 40-50kpm+ with sharp corners and multiple crashes along the way.

First off was the International Youth Tour of Assen, in Holland. Five days of hectic racing against some of the best youth cyclists in the world where her performances and results improved each day. This set her up nicely for three more races in Belgium with her TC Racing Team. These are known as Kermesse style races, frenetic races with very large numbers. Naoise was amongst the youngest riders in her races, racing alongside U19 and senior riders. She put in superb performances and even managed to finish in the front bunch with the fastest riders.

Naoise has her eyes set on races in a number of European countries in 2026 as she sets out to build on the experience and skills she has developed over the summer.

“It’ll be brilliant to build on what I’ve learned so far. Each year I see the senior women racing in Ras na mBan in Kilkenny and I know I want to be competitive there and at other senior races as soon as I get the chance”.

Not to be outshined by his little sister, Jamie was crowned Leinster Junior (U19) Champion recently too. A gruelling 105k race around the hills of Wexford left Jamie battling it out with fellow Junior riders. He attacked the group on a descent with 15k to go in the race and managed to get a gap on his competitors. The Carlow RCC rider then put in a colossal effort up the main climb of the day and managed to distance the group by 2 minutes by the finish. Byrne said the win was extra special.

"I felt really grateful crossing the line. It's been a tough season as I was out injured for most of it, so to come back strong and win the Leinster Junior Championship is amazing. Really grateful to all those that supported me along the way. I felt really grateful crossing the line. It's been a tough season as I was out injured for most of it, so to come back strong and win the Leinster Junior Championship is amazing. Really grateful to all those that supported me along the way. I'm looking forward to next season already. Cycling is quite time consuming, especially with all the preparation and travel. This year I'll have to make a conscious effort to balance school with cycling as I have the Leaving Cert too"