Matt Howe U.S.A.

The latest in what will be an international spread of teams for this year’s FBD Insurance RÁS was revealed today with the announcement that the Happy Tooth Presented by Inside-Out Sports squad will travel from the US for the round-Ireland tour.

The new elite team is comprised mainly of riders under 25 years of age. The North Carolina-based setup has the goal of developing young riders from the Southeastern US. It has chosen the FBD RÁS as its first-ever overseas contest.

“The main focus of the team will be stage wins and results in the sprint competition” said team director Donald McDonnell.

The team for the FBD Insurance RÁS will be Curtis Staples (27), Matt Howe (23), Eóin McDonnell (23), John Crow (22), and Walker Owen (24).  The team points out that each has competed at the highest level in collegiate cycling in recent years, with Howe, Crow and Owen having represented NC State University, Staples having ridden for the University of North Carolina and McDonnell for Virginia Tech.

They also raced for various elite/professional teams but now are team-mates, not rivals. Donald McDonnell said that they have gelled well together and work strongly as a unit.

 “These guys have competed against each other for several years and have become good friends,” he said. “They now come together as a team and their mutual respect shows in their race strategies.”

One of the most experienced riders on the team will be Staples, who has raced at elite level all over the US. Recent Raleigh Centennial criterium victor McDonnell is the only one with a history of racing abroad, having competed in Ireland on several occasions. His late Grandfather Tony was from Blackrock and raced for the Dublin Wheelers.

Matt Howe raced with the pro DLP team in the past and took second last year on a stage of the Tour of Ohio. This season he was runner-up in the Donaldson Center Road Race in Greenville, South Carolina.  John Crow has also been going well this season, netting top ten finishes in the majority of the races he has competed in. He is leading the overall competition in the collegiate Atlantic Coast Cycling Conference, and will be targeting the best young rider award in the FBD RÁS.

The HTR Inside-Out Sports squad will be completed by Owen, who has just moved up from the club team and will be riding his first Elite-level contest. He is a good climber and the team expects that he will fare well on the hillier stages.

“This looks like an interesting setup of young riders and we expect that the team will add to the racing in May,” said FBD RÁS director Dermot Dignam. “Thus far teams have been confirmed from Australia, New Zealand and Sweden, and so the addition of an American squad further increases the range of nationalities that will be at the race start in Dunboyne.”

The 2010 FBD RÁS will begin on May 23rd and runs for eight days. It will be 1219 kilometres in length, crosses 24 tough categorised climbs, and features stage finishes in Dundalk, Carrick on Shannon, Oughterard, Tipperary, Seskin Hill/Carrick on Suir, Gorey, Kilcullen and Skerries.

It will be once again sponsored by FBD Insurances and supported by the Irish Sports Council. The race is ranked as a 2.2 event on the UCI’s international calendar.