Nicholas Roche will compete in his fourth Olympic next month.

Roche, whose father Stephen was an Olympian in Moscow in 1980, will compete in both the road race and the time trial in Tokyo.

He will be joined in the road race by his cousin Dan Martin, who will be taking part in his third Games and Eddie Dunbar who will be making his Olympic debut.

Even though he is not competing in this year’s Tour de France where he won the green points jersey last year, Sam Bennett was not selected though he had qualified.

A sprint specialist, the 244km course for the road race is a mountainous one taking in the lower slopes of Mount Fuji and climbing a total of 4,865m does not suit the Carrick-on-Suir rider. Bennett is also recovering from a knee injury which ruled him out of the Tour.

In contrast the course does suit Martin, but he faces a busy schedule as he is currently riding in the Tour de France which finishes in Paris on July 18. The Olympic road race is scheduled for the following Saturday, July 24 at the Fuji International Speedway.

The time trial takes place the following Wednesday, July 28, starting at the same venue and consisting of two laps of a 22.1km course.

For Banteer native Eddie Dunbar it is a dream come through to be making his Olympic debut.

"It’s a real honour for me to be competing in Tokyo, it’s something that I have dreamed about. In Banteer, where I’m from, there’s a strong Olympic heritage. Ireland’s first gold medallist, Pat O’Callaghan, was from near where I live. This makes competing all the more special," he said.