Notes:
On Jan 06 2011 the Offroad Commission announced that for 2012 XC NPS (and possibly subsequent years) Junior riders will race in appropriate ability-based categories, full details here.
On Feb 14 2010 the Offroad Commission announced the new ability-based XC race categories for Irish XC events (excluding National Champs titles). The previous categories of Elite/Master/Expert/Sport/Veteran are now obsolete.
XC NPS (Cross-Country National Points Series) categories:
Men
| Category | Age | Lap count | Duration (approx.) | Comment |
| Senior 1 | 17+ | 5 laps | 1:30/max. 1:45hrs | The highest-level race category |
| Senior 2 | 17+ | 4 laps | 1:30hrs | The 2nd highest-level race category |
| Senior 3 | 17+ | 3 laps | 1:15hrs | The 3rd highest-level race category |
| Senior 4 | 17+ | 2 laps | 50 mins | Introductory/beginner Mens race category |
Women
| Category | Age | Lap count | Duration (approx.) | Comment |
| Senior 1 | 17+ | 4 laps | 1:30hrs | The highest-level Women’s race category |
| Senior 2 | 17+ | 3 laps | 1:15hrs | The 2nd highest-level Women’s race category |
| Senior 3 | 17+ | 2 laps | 50mins | Introductory/beginner Womens race category |
Youth
| Category | Age | Duration (approx.) | Comment |
| Under 16 | 14-15 | 2 laps | Youth category (boys and girls) This category is for riders who were 14 or 15 years old on the 1st of Jan in the current year. |
| Under 14 | 12-13 | ** | Youth category (boys and girls) This category is for riders who were 12 or 13 years old on the 1st of Jan in the current year. |
| Under 12 | 10-11 | ** | Youth category (boys and girls) This category is for riders who were 10 or 11 years old on the 1st of Jan in the current year |
| Under 10 | 8-9 | ** | Youth category (boys and girls) This category is for riders who were 8 or 9 years old on the 1st of Jan in the current year |
| Under 8 | <8 | ** | Youth category (boys and girls) This category is for riders who were 6 or 7 years old on the 1st of Jan in the current year |
* Approximate times.
** Youth riders compete on a short course – Under 14’s may be allowed to compete on the full course, this is determined by the hosting club.
***Note on Youth age-categories: To determine the correct race category, Youth riders should subtract their year of birth from the current year, eg; if a rider was born in 1997, and the current year is 2012, 2012-1997 = 15, thus the rider is deemed to be in the age-range for Under 16.
To align with the UCI criteria for race durations, Junior boys can compete up to SENIOR 2 MEN*, and Junior Girls can compete up to SENIOR 2 WOMEN*.
However, these categories may be too long in duration for novice Juniors, thus Junior riders can compete in any category up to but not exceeding the above indicated categories.
* If a Junior rider wants to race a category higher than that advised above, the rider will need to request specific permission from the Offroad Commission to do this. An email requesting permission to ride a higher category from both the rider and the rider’s parent/gaurdian should be sent to offroad.commission@gmail.com and further instructions will be issued to the rider to complete their request.
Junior-aged riders will NOT pay the typical race fee that Senior riders do; when completing the online registration form – Junior-aged riders must advise in the Comments field that they are a Junior rider and that they are only due to pay the Junior fee (typically half the price of the Senior category).
The race fees for the XC NPS are as follows:
All SENIOR categories: €20 (except as agreed in red below)
JUNIOR: €10
All Youth categories €0 (free)
National Championship Categories
The categories for the XC National Championship differ from the categories above in that they are based on age-group.
See this article published by Cycling Ireland for more details.
The hosting club will provide Online Registration for a National Champs event.
Online Registration will open approx 4 weeks before the event, and will close 1 week before the event.
A minimum of 6 pre-registered riders per category is required in order for the category to be assigned a full set of medals.
After Online Registration closes, the hosting club will advise which of the provided categories it intends to provide as National Championship categories.
Important Notes:
You are NOT allowed to enter or register for a National Championship event under a One Day licence.
You are NOT allowed to enter or register for a National Championship event if you do not have an IRL UCI code designation on your licence.
(The UCI Code definitively advises a riders Nationality as submitted to the national federation).
A rider can change their UCI code, eg; GER to IRL, anytime during the year, providing passport proof is submitted and verified by CI, but, that rider will not be eligible to win a medal in a National Championships until the following year.
