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2013
Austrian rider Andreas Müller, who finished a close
second to Martyn Irvine in the scratch race in the world track championships
last month, has been confirmed as part of the Austria Pro Gerbrudur Weiss team. The 33 year old rider was involved in a thrilling
duel with Irvine at the track championships, catching the Irishman close to the
finish of the race, but losing out when Irvine rallied to take gold. The
performance made history, achieving Ireland’s first world track title in over
100 years. The Austrian outfit have previously competed in the
An Post Rás in 2009 and 2010. They took third overall in the first of those
editions via the efforts of Jan Barta, and were also third in the international
team classification. The squad then returned the following year and again
performed well. Joseph Kugler was third on stage five to Seskin Hill and
temporarily moved up to second overall as a result. Kugler ultimately finished thirteenth overall,
losing time on the penultimate stage through the Wicklow Mountains. The team’s captain for the race will be Benjamin
Edmüller, a 25 year old who last year was second on a stage of the Tour of
Slovakia. He will be joined by the aforementioned Andreas Müller, 2011 Giro di
Festina runner-up Adam Homolka [34], Jakub Kratochvila [24] and Alexander
Schrangl [27]. In order to be at a high level for the race, the
team will compete in some rounds of the Austrian Tschibo-Cup, then go on to
ride the 2.2-ranked GP of Adydea in Russia and the 1.2-ranked GP of Sencur in
Slovenia. Also heading to Ireland are the Germany Bike Aid
team. They made their debut in the race last year and took second place on
stage seven to Cootehill with Kai Exner. That result also secured them the best
international team award for that stage. This time round, the team will comprise Matthias
Schnapka, Timo Schäfer, Richard Stockhausen, Philipp Becker and Karsten
Keunecke. “The team goals are to go for some stage podiums,
and hopefully stage wins, plus a top fifteen finish in the general
classification,” said Schäfer, who along with Karsten Keunecke will be the
leaders in terms of the overall standings. Becker will be the designated
sprinter. An Post Rás race director Tony Campbell welcomes
the addition of the two teams. “Having already announced squads from Canada,
the Czech Republic and Denmark, the news about the Austria Pro Gerbrudur Weiss
and the Germany Bike Aid teams bring the number of foreign teams to five thus
far. More teams will be confirmed between now and the start of the race,” said
Campbell. “The line-up is going to be excellent this year and we really look
forward to seeing what the Austrian and German teams announced today can do.” For More Information Contact: Tony Campbell tonycampbell@anpostras.com Eddie Dawson edddiedawson@anpostras.com For More Information www.anpostras.com |
