EF Education-Oatly have continued shaping their first Women’s WorldTour roster with the signing of 23-year-old Irish rider Caoimhe O’Brien. The move brings one of Ireland’s most rounded young prospects into a setup known for developing riders and creating an environment where athletes thrive on and off the bike.
O’Brien grew up in Mullingar, where she and her sister Aoife first joined Lakeside Wheelers’ youth development programme. The club later awarded both siblings Lifetime Membership for their impact on Irish cycling. The pair have been central figures in the Irish domestic scene from their teenage years, winning most of the country’s major races and representing Ireland internationally on road and track.
That early grounding forged a deep connection with cycling, built as much on community as competition. O’Brien left Ireland to develop further abroad, first with Torelli, then Belco/Van Eyck and DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK, before joining Cynisca Cycling for 2025. Along the way she juggled her academic studies in food science with the demands of Continental-level racing, often competing against full-time professionals.
Those challenges, she said, shaped her ambitions. Racing in Europe showed her the gap to the WorldTour but also the path to closing it. She has talked openly about watching the strongest riders in decisive moments and learning from how they manage positioning, power and race craft. With each season, those lessons have sharpened her own approach.
EF Education-Oatly’s ethos made the step up feel natural. “The belief the team has in me, to progress and achieve as an individual while helping the team to progress and achieve, is very exciting,” she said. “The team’s ethos and their belief that a happy athlete is a successful athlete is something that speaks to me. Just going out and riding our bikes and getting the most out of everything and having a sense of balance is the right way to do things.”
A Belgian-hardened racer with sprint and punch
Although O’Brien is still defining her speciality, she is clearest about the style of racing that suits her best. “I’m more of a sprinty, punchy rider. I’ve raced a lot in Belgium and after so much time there, I thrive in those races. They’re hectic with short, punchy hills. And I like a good, hard race where you need to mentally push yourself. Those are the kinds of races I like the most.”
Her 2025 campaign mirrored that identity: second in the Irish road race championships, ninth at the Maryland Cycling Classic, ninth at Egmont, and a top 10 on a mountainous stage of the Volta Catalunya. These results, combined with her consistency across Belgian one day races, painted the picture of a rider edging toward a breakthrough.
A rider built through patience, routine and long hours
The 2024 season provided a deeper insight into her development path. Training weeks regularly reached 25 hours, balanced between long road sessions and strength work, often squeezed around university exams. While that workload sometimes meant sacrificing social life or travel, O’Brien has always framed it as a clear choice rather than a burden. She and Aoife often pushed each other through those blocks, sharing training camps in Calpe and long stints racing in Belgium.
She has spoken before about how the cumulative years of training and racing would eventually narrow the margin between herself and the full-time professionals she once struggled to match in the final kilometres of hard races. Her move to the WorldTour now gives her access to the resources and support that had previously been the missing piece.
A long-term investment for EF Education-Oatly
General manager Esra Tromp believes O’Brien fits the team’s plan perfectly. “As our team moves up to the WorldTour in 2026 and we have a handful of riders with depth and experience to anchor the squad, we’ve signed young riders like Caoimhe to continue our work of shaping the next generation. We’ve proven that we can successfully develop young riders who are dedicated to growing. Caoimhe is exactly who we were looking for.”
That commitment aligns with O’Brien’s own goals. After finishing second at the 2024 Irish national championships and building experience in major European races, she has long targeted a move to the top tier. She had ambitions to race RideLondon, the Tour of Britain and Rás na mBan as stepping stones toward that goal, and each season has brought greater confidence.
A personality that fits the team culture
Away from the bike, O’Brien is a keen reader and yoga enthusiast, and her degree in food science feeds into her love of baking, sourdough and experimentation in the kitchen. She has said often that she would like to travel and work abroad later in life, but for now her focus is on making the most of her WorldTour opportunity.
Her signing gives EF Education-Oatly a rider with both potential and character, shaped by years of graft, study, and the grounded culture of Irish club racing. For O’Brien, this is the chance she has been building toward since those early youth sessions in Mullingar. For the team, it is another piece of a roster built for long-term growth and ambition.
