|
2013
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. 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. 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 |
