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The 50 years Anniversary Race Manual Cover
Note,
The Race Leaders Jersey for 1966 was White with Green White & Gold Bands to Commerate the 50 years anniversary of the 1916 Rising More>>>
Former World Track Racing Champion Martyn Irvine Joins Strong International Line Up For An Post Rás
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| Martyn Irvine, Madison Genesis |
Having dominated the Shay Elliott Memorial last Sunday confirming that his form is in a very good place, Martyn Irvine is a late addition to the Britain Madison-Genesis team for the An Post Rás and will return for the first time since 2012.
Irvine is the 2013 World Scratch Race Champion on the track and while he has focussed mainly on velodrome racing in recent years, his strong Elliott solo victory suggests he could well be in the mix in the UCI ranked international event. More>>>
Irish Duo Part Of Ambitious An Post Chain Reaction Team
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| Conor Dunne An Post Chainreaction |
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| Ryan Mullen An Post Chainreaction |
With the start of the 2015 An Post Rás just days away, An Post-Chain Reaction Sean Kelly team manager Kurt Bogaerts has named a strong five-man line-up. They will tackle the gruelling eight day, stage race, which begins this Sunday May 17th in Dunboyne, Co. Meath.
With the team hampered by injuries in recent weeks, Bogaerts includes Conor Dunne and Ryan Mullen as the two Irish riders, alongside Great Britain’s Joshua Edmondson, Lithuania’s Aidis Kruopis and New Zealander Aaron Gate.
Dunne led the Rás back in 2013, picking up the Stage 1 win from Longford to Nenagh, while Irish Elite Road Race Champion and time-trial specialist, Ryan Mullen, is also included in the team, in what will be his first Rás.
Edmondson goes into the Rás in dazzling form following his 6th place finish overall at the Tour d’Azerbaidjan, which included a win on the 177km third stage in Gabala.
Bogaerts is looking forward to his teams’ return to Irish soil and believes the new route changes will add greatly to the unpredictability An Post Rás has long been known for over the years. More>>>
Determined Irish County Teams Take On Might Of International Teams In An Post Rás
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| Damien Shaw, Aquablue |
With the full contingent of fifteen international teams announced in recent weeks, the organisers of the An Post Rás today announced the nineteen Irish domestic teams who will square up against their overseas competitors in this month’s race.
Many of Ireland’s top home-based riders will compete in the 2.2-ranked international event, pitching their strength against those of the international riders. They will aim to show that domestic riders can race competitively and aggressively despite having less experience of racing abroad.
Recent Tour of Ulster winner Mark Dowling will lead a strong Meath DID Electrical team and will seek to build on the form which earned him the stage race title and other strong results throughout the season.
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| Brian McCrystal, ASEA Louth |
Eoin Morton, who briefly led the Tour of Ulster race and finished second overall, will spearhead the Dublin UCD squad, while stage winners Damien Shaw and Roger Aiken will head to the An Post Rás with big aspirations wearing the Louth Team Asea jersey.
Team-mate Brian McCrystal has also been in strong form this season and will animate the eight day event.
Cork Aquablue will field another strong line-up, with Kerry Group Rás Mumhan winner Sean McKenna and former An Post-Chain Reaction Sean Kelly rider Ronan McLaughlin two of the five.
Ned Flanagan Memorial winner Robin Kelly has been in good form this year and will be part of the Mayo Coleman Electronics TKE team. Tour of the North stage winner David Watson, currently fourth behind Paidi O’Brien, McKenna and Morton in the Cycling Ireland rider rankings, will represent Down North Graham Powerhouse Sport, while Drumm Cup winner Simon Ryan will be part of the Limerick Mego RT squad. More>>>
US Diabetic Team And Strong Italian Squad Confirmed For An Post Rás
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| Daragh Campbell Team Novo Nordisk |
Adding to a range of international teams taking part in this year’s An Post Rás, two more overseas squads have joined the line-up for the UCI ranked event, which gets underway in just over two week’s time.
The Team Novo Nordisk development squad travel to the race on a mission to represent millions of diabetics worldwide via the five type 1 diabetic riders on the team.
This includes Irishman Daragh Campbell, from Drogheda. Daragh moved to the USA at the start of 2014 after getting a place on the team. He quickly clocked up four podium finishes including two wins at the Pisgah Omnium and two third places at the Georgia Games Road Race and Criterium.
Also on board are Frenchman Quentin Valognes, winner of three stages of the UCI Junior Tour de l'Abitibi in 2014, the 2015 Blue Goose Road Race Winner Emanuel Mini (Argentina), Mehdi Benhamouda (France), who picked up top five finishes in the Fouche Gap Road Race and the Redlands Amateur Criterium this year plus the Italian Umberto Poli.
More>>>
An Post Chain Reaction Squad, British And French Teams Confirmed For An Post Rás 2015
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| Sean Downey An Post Chain Reaction |
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| Ryan Mullen Post Chain Reaction |
With less than a month to go until the start of An Post Rás, three more teams have confirmed they will take part in Ireland’s top cycling event and one of the most aggressive races on the international calendar.
This trio of squads includes Ireland’s only UCI Continental team, An Post-Chain Reaction - Sean Kelly team. Kurt Bogaerts, team manager, has given some idea of the riders who could be part of the line-up this year, although the current run of injuries and illness within the team has complicated things.
He confirmed: “Ryan Mullen is racing again this weekend after his crash in the Under 23 Tour of Flanders. He is a certainty for the race.” The Irish rider finished second in the 2014, World Under 23 Time Trial Championship.
“Another rider I would like to be there is Aidis Kroupis, although he has a really bad saddle sore at the moment and won’t be able to race this weekend. It depends on how he recovers from that.
“Of the other Irish guys, Conor Dunne and Sean Downey are in contention. Jack Wilson definitely won’t make An Post Rás due his fractured collarbone and scaphoid. There is also a similar situation for Eoin McCarthy due to his two bad crashes this year. They will likely both be out of action until June as there is no point in throwing them into racing directly before they get in a block of good training again.” More>>>
Ambitious Austrian And Belgian Teams Confirmed For An Post Rás
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| Alexander Wachter, Tirol Cycling Team, Austria |
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| Elliott Porter, Team 3M, Belgium |
One year after winning the race with Clemens Fankhauser, the Tirol Cycling Team will attempt to once again shine in An Post Rás, with the Austrian outfit confirming that it will take part in next month’s race.
Although Fankhauser has moved to the Hrinkow Advarics CYcleanG team – and will defend his title with them – the Tirol Cycling squad remains ambitious. That said,the assistant directeur sportif Norbert Dürauer emphasises that the roster comprises very young riders and so he will take a ‘wait and see’ approach.
“All of our riders have huge potential and great character. Since we played a very active role in the peloton last year we, of course, come with big ambitions to Ireland and send the "crème de la crème" of our team to An Post Rás,” he says.
The riders who will take part are Lukas Pöstlberger, Patrick Bosman, Mario Schoibl, Sebastian Schönberger and Alexander Wachter. Wachter competed last year, helping Fankhauser win the race, while the others will all debut in the UCI ranked event. More>>>
Azerbaijan Synergy Baku Return To An Post Rás
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| Matej Mugerli, Synergy Baku |
Azerbaijan Synergy Baku team have announced that they will return to the An Post Rás next month. The team boast an impressive record in the race winning two stages in three years and claiming two top five overall finishes.
The Baku outfit took stage wins in 2013 with the Russian Kirill Pozdnyakov plus the Kiwi Rico Rogers and in 2014 with Austrian rider Jan Sokol.
It also helped Irishman Connor McConvey to second overall two years ago and the German Christoph Schweizer to his fifth place finish in 2014.
According to the team manager, Irishman David McQuaid, the final line-up is yet to be decided and will be based in part on whether the young Azerbaijan riders the team has been set up to develop get the necessary visas. More>>>
Canadian And New Zealand National Teams To Return To An Post Rás
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| Alex Frame New Zealand National Team |
Adding to the five overseas teams already confirmed for this year’s An Post Rás, the race organisation has confirmed that national squads from Canada and New Zealand will also be part of the 2015 edition.
The teams are travelling long distances to do a block of European racing, of which An Post Rás is an important element.
“Our team will once again be composed of a young group of riders, many of them coming from our national team pursuit programme,” stated Cycling Canada’s development coach Luc Arseneau.
The team competed in the race last year and took a superb third overall with Nic Hamilton. The rider also clocked up several strong stage placings.
While Hamilton won’t compete this time around, Arseneau has someone else in mind to head the squad. More>>>
UCI British Continental Squads NFTO And JLT Condor Add To Strong Field For 2015 An Post Rás
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| Eddie Dunbar NFTO |
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| David McCarthy JLT Condor |
Two strong British squads have confirmed they will compete in An Post Rás 2015. Teams NFTO and JLT Condor, both UCI Continental squads aim to have a major influence on the outcome of this year’s race.
The NFTO squad will feature top young Irish talent Eddie Dunbar, who has impressed greatly at home and abroad in the junior ranks. The first-ever double winner of the Junior Tour of Ireland also won the Junior Tour of Wales in 2014 and international races such as the Trofeo Karlsberg.
Dunbar is hugely motivated for success and will be determined to make a strong impression in his first An Post Rás. Dunbar is likely be joined by Ian Bibby, Rob Partridge, Sam Harrison and James Lowsley-Williams.
Bibby finished second on stage five and placed fourth overall in last year’s An Post Rás, and his experience will be a big asset to the team. Likewise Rob Partridge, who took third place in 2008, sixth place in 2010 and 14th overall last year. More>>>
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