It’s not that long ago that overall victory in the FBD RÁS was almost certain to fall to the top Irish riders in the race. Granted, many good foreign teams came over to take part but the fact remains that between 1990 and 1999, every winner was an Irish international rider. The only grey area is the status of the 1997 victor, Andrew Roche; he is from the Isle of Man but has also competed on many occasions for Ireland due to his dual nationality.
Things changed in 2000. Welshman Julian bucked the trend when he came out on top and one year later, Paul Manning became the first ever British winner of the event. The race had been upgraded to the UCI calendar and, in response to the world ranking points that had became available, the standard of foreign teams increased.
Irish professional Ciarán Power rode strongly in 2002 to win the race, as did David McCann in 2004, while in 2003 and again last year, Englishman Chris Newton came out on top. From ten Irish international victories in ten years to just two in six; home wins have changed from being the rule to the exception.
And so what about 2006? It’s impossible to predict what will happen as the FBD Insurance RÁS is such a complex event, but every indication is that the foreign challenge will be a very impressive one.
Defending champion Chris Newton is back once more, looking to extend his record as the only overseas winner to take more than one Rás title. The 32 year old has been in good form this year, adding Commonwealth track gold (team pursuit) to the world championship gold and Olympic Games silver medals he previously took on the track, and also riding well on the road. As was the case last time, he will wear the colours of the Great Britain – Recycling.co.uk team in the FBD Insurance RÁS and have strong backing in his bid.
“We are bringing a strong squad to the race,” confirmed team manager John Herety, who takes over at the top of the new-look squad after several years of working with the Great Britain national team. “Chris Newton, Robin Sharman, Kristian House, Rob Partridge and Evan Oliphant are down to ride. Every one of them were selected for their respective home nation for the recent Commonwealth Games, and Newton took gold in the team pursuit there.”
The others on the team also have good results to their credit. House has been in excellent form of late, taking a stage of the Tour of Brittany, winning the Girvan Three Day and topping the podium in the Lincoln Grand Prix on May 7th. Sharman finished an excellent ninth overall in the Tour de Langkawi and was fifth in the 2005 FBD Rás. He was also second on a stage of the Tour of Britain and last weekend beat Newton to win the Rutland to Melton British Premier Calendar event. Oliphant was second on a stage of the Tour de Langkawi.
Herety says he is looking forward to returning to the FBD Insurance Rás. “It is a unique event that, despite the changes the UCI has made to stage races of this type, has managed to keep it's original identity and maintain its core values that were put in place when the race first started,” he said.
Also returning to the race after a successful 2005 participation is the Norway-Sparebanken Vest team. The Continental setup performed very strongly last year, with Morten Hegreberg winning stage 7, wearing yellow after taking a bonus sprint and placing second on stage one, and landing four other top five placings, including second on stage 6 and third on stage 8. He finished third overall, third in the King of the Mountains competition and second in the points classification.
Team-mate Morten Christiansen won the fifth stage and the squad completed their glittering showing by placing second in the international team competition.
Both Hegreberg and Christiansen are likely to compete this year, as is Are Andresen, who last season won Norway’s biggest stage race, the Ringerike Grand Prix. Christiansen and Hegreberg were first and third in the Norwegian road race championships, beating none other than Tour de France Green Jersey winner Thor Hushovd. Also likely to travel to Ireland is Tour of Hungary 2005 winner Tamas Lengyel and current Slovakian road race champion Martin Prazdnovsky.
Perhaps the strongest lineup heading to Ireland is the USA – TIAA CREF team, managed by former top professional Jonathan Vaughters. He competed alongside Lance Armstrong in the US Postal team and in 2001, won a Tour de France team time trial stage with the Credit Agricole squad. Several years ago Vaughters set up the TIAA CREF team to help the development of US racing, and in order to facilitate this, the squad has been based primarily in Europe this season.
In 2005 the team made a strong RÁS debut, with Stuart Gillespie winning the Irish Sports Council’s award for best young rider and finishing an excellent ninth overall. This time round the squad looks even stronger, with world under 23 Time Trial Champion Danny Pate heading the lineup. He is likely to be joined by Mike Creed, a former US Postal Service/Discovery Channel rider who has won 20 national championship titles on road and track. Mike Friedman won the US under 23 title in 2001 while William Frishkorn succeeded him a year later and then finished third in the 2003 Under 23 Tour of Flanders. The team is completed by Dan Bowman, who took the sprint jersey on stage one of last year’s Tour of Georgia.
Vaughters has high ambitions this time round. “Last year we won the best young rider jersey, and we'll have a couple of guys that will be contenders for that again,” he states. “However, this year, our goal will be to win the race outright. I think predicting a victory in the Ras is next to impossible as the race always is decided by the odd breakaway and a bit of luck, as opposed to just brute strength. That said, we should be as good as any team out there and I hope we'll have the luck of the Irish with us!”
Another team from the North American continent is the Canada – Team Symmetrics lineup. They will be led by Andrew Randall, who in 2002 sprinted to victory on the fourth stage to Castletownbere. The former national champion is likely to be joined by Brandon Crichton, Cory Lange, Brad Fairall and Will Routley for the 2.2 ranked race. All have a strong pedigree, with Routley and Crichton taking the best young rider jersey in the 2004 and the 2005 Tour de Beauce, another 2.2 national tour. Lange won the 2.1 ranked Tour of Korea in 2004 while Fairall was third in last year’s under 23 Canadian time trial championships. He was also second on the fourth stage of the 2.2 ranked Volta de Rio (Tour of Rio) this season.
A third squad from across the Atlantic is the USA – Team Endeavour Cycling lineup. Multiple FBD Insurance RÁS participant Isaiah Adams is back once again, the experienced competitor accompanied by William C Jones, Roger Aspholm, Josh James and Graham Howard.
From Poland comes another Continental-level team, the powerful Legia-Bazylisek lineup. The team’s Directeur Sportif, Zbigniew Ludwiniak recently confirmed their selection and stated that he was expecting the quintet to perform with distinction in Ireland. “My team are all up and coming young riders with the exception of Jaroslaw Welniak who is an experienced multi-stage racer. With this blend of youth and experience we are confident we can make our visit to Ireland a winning one”. The other riders are Bartlomiej Matysiak, Lukasza Modzelewski, Przemyslaw Pietrzak and Lukasz Milewski, all names guaranteed to tongue-tangle the radio commentators who will be reporting on the race.
Another team guaranteed to attract attention is the Belgium – Sean Kelly ACLVB M. Donnelly lineup. The squad was set up earlier this year and became Ireland’s first ever Continental level team, being later joined in the UCI listings by the Irish-based Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group squad. Irish riders Tim Cassidy and namesake Mark Cassidy are travelling over from the base in Merchtem for the race. Tim Cassidy finished 15th in the junior world championships in 2001 and also rode very strongly in France last season, but he has been unlucky with illness and injury in the past. If he is at full form, he has the ability to do very well. Mark Cassidy is a promising third year senior who was fifth in the best young rider classification last year.
The two Irishmen will be joined by three strong Belgian team-mates. Jehudi Schoonacker previously rode with the Chocolade Jacques pro team, Peter Schoonjans is a past winner of the GP Roger de Vlaeminck and Rieno Stofferis is a strong sprinter. They will add experience to the team and will be chasing big results themselves in the race.
Also from Europe comes the Germany - Team Stevens squad, who have competed in the past two editions of the race. In 2004 Thorsten Wiedenroth was ninth on stage one, while Jens Schwedler (Germany Stevens Von Hacht) briefly led the King of the Mountains competition. Last year, Malte Urban was third on stage three, Arne Hinrichsen was eighth one day later and then tenth on the final stage of the race.
The squad specialises in cyclo-cross racing, but is also a UCI Continental level team which regularly competes on the road. Schwedler returns this year but in the role of manager. The team includes German national cross champion Johannes Sickmüller, Canadian national sliver medallist Greg Reain plus three other strong cross riders, Finn Heitman, Fabian Brzezinski and Benjamin Hill.
Originating from further afield is the Australia – FRF Couriers Carravello team, who will make their debut in the Irish tour and are expected to mount a strong challenge. The Continental squad will be led by Peter MacDonald, a strong climber and time trialist who recently won the Tour of New Caledonia. Namesake Peter Herzig should also challenge in the general classification, having been the team’s best rider in the Giro del Capo in South Africa earlier this year.
Cody Stephenson and Josh Marden are expected to challenge in the sprint finishes. Stephenson is the most experienced rider on the team, having previously competed as part of Team Cyclingnews.com in Europe and winning a stage in the recent Tour of Hungary. Marden is a former Australian national champion at speed skating and has made a successful conversion to cycling, winning many criteriums over the summer months there. The squad will be completed by Joe McDonnell, a strong workhorse over all sorts of terrain.
A team which is certainly guaranteed to shake things up is the powerful Doncaster Stena Line squad. 2005 King of the Mountains champion Mark Lovatt and former stage winner John Tanner will both lead the quintet, being joined by Wayne Randle, another rider with strong previous experience of the race. Gavin Evans and up and coming young rider Ashley Brown complete the team.
“When Lovatt last teamed up with Randle and Tanner in the 2000 RÁS, they took three of the top ten places on overall classification,” said race organiser Dermot Dignam. “Randle finished second overall to Julian Winn, followed by Lovatt at 13 seconds. And Tanner took tenth place overall and also won stage 5 to Enniscorthy.”
Lovatt is a previous yellow jersey wearer in the FBD Insurance Rás and last year secured the red and white mountains jersey with an excellent ride on the penultimate stage through the Wicklow mountains. All three are known as attacking riders who stir up the action whenever they take part in the round-Ireland competition. Their participation will further increase the characteristically aggressive nature of the event.
The team will be backed by Stena Line, which has a long association with the FBD RÁS. It is the official maritime carrier for the world-ranked 8 day race, and each year brings teams from Scandinavia, Britain and continental Europe.
Also likely to travel by the maritime carries are the Surrey Racing League and Yorkshire JE James RT squads. The highly experienced Keith Butler will manage the former, with Simon Saunders, Toby Neave, Tom Hemmanc, Warwick Spence and Daniel Duguid the likely lineup. The Yorkshire quintet is Christopher Belsham, Matthew Melville, Mike Harrison, Peter Hey and Llewellyn Byrne.
In all, there are 12 foreign teams competing in the 2006 FBD Insurance RÁS, this number including eight Continental-level squads. This represents a formidable overseas challenge. As stated previously, four out of the past six editions of the race have been won by overseas riders; looking at the lineup, it will take a very strong performance by home competitors to buck this trend.
