Adding to an impressive line-up of overseas teams announced thus far, the first two out of several teams from Britain have been confirmed for this year’s An Post Rás, which will burst into action in exactly one month’s time.

Aaron Buggle Rapha Condor JLT

The Britain Rapha Condor JLT outfit and the Great Britain development squad are the sixth and seventh overseas teams to be confirmed thus far, joining the previously announced squads Czech AC Sparta Praha, Denmark Blue Water, Germany Bike Aid, Austria Gebruder Weiss plus the Canadian national team.

The Britain Rapha Condor JLT team is very well known on the race, having won the event in 2009 with Simon Richardson. Its manager John Herety has guided several riders to overall victory in the past and the former professional is very experienced in the style of racing the race requires.

Last year Richard Handley finished fifth overall. He was also the winner in the Irish Sports Council best under 23 rider classification, with his team-mate Chris Jennings fourth. The squad was an impressive third in the international team classification.

This time round, Herety is again ambitious, and so too will be the returning Handley. “We will target stages to start with, then look at the general classification after four days of racing,” said Herety. “Rich Handley and Mike Cuming will be the leaders.”

Cuming is the current British under 23 champion and will be one too watch. Irishman Aaron Buggle will also be very competitive, having shown his ability when he won two Irish time trial championship titles in the Under 23 category. The team will be completed by Elliott Porter, the son of former top professional Jaanus Kuum and double Olympian Maria Blower, plus the 2012 Junior Tour of Wales third-place finisher Ed Laverack.

Herety states that the team will have a good programme of racing in the build-up to the An Post Rás. “By then we will have done the Tour of Mzansi in South Africa, the Tour du Loir et Cher, the Tour of Normandie, Boucles de l’Artois & domestic races in the UK, including the Tour of Reservoir and the Lincoln GP.”

Another former pro will guide the competitors on the Great Britain development squad, with Keith Lambert taking the reins there. He said that the team would not be finalised until after the Flèche du Sud, one week before the start of the An Post Rás, but gave the likely riders.

Simon Yates G B Dev. Squad World Points Race Champion

The line-up includes Simon Yates, the world points race champion and a stage winner in the Tour de l’Avenir, plus Beijing World Cup 2011 Omnium track race winner Sam Harrison, who has also taken silver and bronze in the team pursuit at the world track championships.

Also on the provisional line-up are Commonwealth Games 2010 points race runner-up George Atkins, former junior Peter Buckley Series winner Ali Slater and Owain Doull, who was fifth in this year’s world scratch race championship behind Ireland’s Martyn Irvine.

“They are obviously a young team but I think they have the pedigree to challenge for the race,” said Lambert, referring to both stage wins and the overall classification.

The team will build up by riding the Ardennes Challenge four day, then the Tour of the Reservoir Premier Calendar race in Britain plus the five day Flèche du Sud in Luxembourg. “We’ll then hopefully arrive at the Rás in good shape,” said Lambert.

An Post Rás race director Tony Campbell knows that both teams could have a very big role to play. “Both the Rapha Condor JLT and the Great Britain Development squad look very strong, and their managers have a huge amount of experience,” said race director Tony Campbell. “They understand the tactical skills needed to succeed in the An Post Rás and should be instrumental in shaping the final outcome.

“The strength of the foreign teams looks very promising, and we will confirm several more in the coming weeks.”

The 2013 An Post Rás will begin in Dunboyne on Sunday 19th May, the fourth consecutive year it has started there. It will then move counter-clockwise around the country, and includes stage finishes in Longford, Nenagh, Listowel, Killarney, Glengarriff, Mitchelstown, Carlow and Naas, before concluding on Sunday 26th May with the customary finale in Skerries, North County Dublin.

The race will feature 33 categorised climbs, of which four are gruelling category one mountains and twelve are category two ascents.

For more Information contact.

Tony Campbell               tonycampbell@anpostras.com

Eddie Dawson                eddiedawson@anpostras.com