Mathieu Delaroziere

The elite French VC La Pomme-Marseille cycling team has confirmed it will be in the line-up when this year’s FBD Insurance RÁS gets underway from Navan on the 18^th May. Following the news last week that Iran will be represented by a very strong pro team, the announcement by the French team is an indication of the mix of teams likely in the big Irish 8 day international race.

The VC La Pomme-Marseille team has in the past been the amateur club for Irish riders Mark Scanlon, Philip Deignan, Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin, each of whom who went on to high-level professional contracts thanks to strong seasons with the Marseilles-based line-up.

The FBD Insurance Rás selection consists of five riders all in their early twenties and all bidding for pro contracts over the next year or two. The line-up is Julien Antomarchi, Yoann Bagot, Mathieu Delaroziere, Mathieu Fabry and David Tanner.

Each has an impressive list of amateur results. Antomarchi is a 23 year old Frenchman who won the GP de Peymeinade last season, and who previously also triumphed in races such as Milan-Rapallo, the Gara Ciclisica Milionaria plus stages of the Tour de la Somme and the Circuit de Saône-et-Loire.

Yoann Bagot

Bagot is the son of former top pro Jean Claude Bagot, and was previously a top-level runner. The 20 year old has taken a number of wins since turning to cycling,

including stage victory and the final overall standings in the Monts du Lyonnais plus a time trial win in the Orcières-Merlette race.

Delaroziere is a talented 22 year old climber and has triumphed on stages of the Ronde de l’Isard plus the Tour de Nouvelle Calédonie, as well as taking the mountains, sprints and combined classification at the Transversale des As de l’Ain.

Fabry is also 22 years old and is a triple champion of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, having won time trial, espoir cyclo cross and elite road race titles. He also won the GP de Branoux and GP de Carcassonne in 2006.

The fifth rider in the line-up is the Australian 23 year old Tanner, who last year won a stage and finished second overall in the French Tour du Gevaudan event. He was also third on a stage and third overall in the Ronde de l’Oise, and is a past runner-up on stages of the Herald Sun Tour, the Boucles de l’Artois and the Circuit des Ardennes.

Race Organiser Dermot Dignam reckons the French team will be in contention for a high overall placing when the race finishes in Skerries on Sunday 25^th May. “The team’s Directeur Sportif, Frederic Rostaing, has over the past few years built this team into one of the best in France and obviously now wants to add victory in the FBD RÁS to the team’s CV.”

Dignam continued by saying, “Rostaing also wants to be the manager of the first-ever French winner of the RÁS”.