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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>>>
Ambitious Swedish And Australian Teams Announced For An Post Rás
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| Alexander Wetterhall Winner In 2010 |
Former professional Thomas Löfkvist will manage 2010 An Post Rás winner, Alex Wetterhall and four other riders in May’s edition of the race, aiming to deliver a second race victory to 28 year old Wetterhall.
The Tre Berg – Bianchi squad is one of two teams announced today, taking part in the race, which begins in Dunboyne, Co. Meath on May 17th. The Swedish Continental-level squad will be joined by the Australian club team Subaru Albion, which also has ambitious goals for the event.
While the line up is yet to be finalised, Löfkvist said: “We come to race for an overall victory and to hunt for stages. Alexander Wetterhall will be our leader.”
Wetterhall is likely to be joined by two-time Swedish criterium champion Sebastian Balck and Lucas Eriksson, who in turn placed sixth and seventh at the Junior World Championships in 2013 and 2014.
The other two places on the team may go to 2013 Memorial Pigoni Coli runner-up Kim Magnusson and Niklas Gustavsson, who was third in the 2012 London Nocturne.
Löfkvist will use his considerable racing experience to guide the squad through the 2015 edition. He rode the Rás himself in 2003, forging a successful professional career with top teams including Team High Road and Team Sky. His results include overall victory in the 2013 Tour of the Mediterranean with Team IAM Cycling.
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Defending Champion Fankhauser To Lead Strong Austrian Team In An Post Rás
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| Clemens Frankhauser |
The 2014 An Post Rás winner Clemens Fankhauser and his new team have become the first riders to be confirmed for this year’s race, with the Austrian set to return to Ireland for the May event.
Recently back in the country for a fundraiser for the Junior Tour of Ireland, Fankhauser spoke about his passion for the An Post Rás and how winning his first stage race transformed his cycling.
“There were so many memories. For me it was the first time I wore yellow in a stage race,” he said. “Fortunately I could defend it. It was the only stage race I won so far. Also, there was a great flair with the race – the people around it, the spectators, and there was great media coverage on the race. It was brilliant.
“Also, with the last stage in Skerries – there was such a big, amazing crowd. You don’t have many 2.2 races where you see such enthusiasm from the people. So I’m really happy to be going back again this year.” More>>>
Stage End Organisers 2015
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U.C.I. Appointed Chief Commissaire An Post Rĺs 2015
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| Danuta Macialek Of Poland Chief Commissaire An Post Rás 2015 Appointed By U.C.I. |
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2015 An Post Rás Route To Make For Trilling Spectacle
Unveiling a fast and tactical route which totals almost 1,200 kilometres, the organisers of An Post Rás today launched what could be one of the most suspenseful editions of the race in recent history.
Deliberately omitting some of the tough first category climbs that have featured in recent years, the emphasis this time around is on opening up the possibility of attacks at any point in the race. This change is set to add greatly to the unpredictability An Post Rás has long been known for.
The 2015 edition of the race will begin in Dunboyne, travelling clockwise around Ireland with stage finishes in Carlow, Tipperary, Bearna, Newport, Ballina, Ballinamore and Drogheda, before the customary finale in Skerries.
Scrapping it out over eight days, the riders will still have 21 categorised climbs to deal with. But with just two of these being second category, surprise attacks, high speeds and strong winds will likely be the biggest factors in shaking up the peloton and deciding the final overall result.
Announcing the route for the May 17th to 24th event in Dublin’s GPO, An Post Rás, Race director, Tony Campbell anticipates a gripping contest.
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| Sean McKenna, Eoin Morton, Donal Connell An Post Chief Executive, Tony Campbell Race Director, Damien Shaw, David McCann. |
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Riders In The 2014 An Post Rás Going Through The Jack Lynch Tunnell Cork
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| Riders In The 2014 An Post Rás Going Through The Jack Lynch Tunnell Cork |
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Mike The Man Of The Rás "73"
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| Mike O'Donaghue Carlow In The Race Winners Yellow Jersey After He Won THe 1973 Tayto Rás Tailteann |
In May 2013 Carlow County Museum unveiled a special temporary exhibition to mark the fortieth anniversary of Carlow man Mike O’Donaghue winning the Rás Tailteann (now the An Post Rás), Ireland’s premier bike race in 1973. The exhibition launch coincided with Stage 6 of the 2013 An Post Rás stage finishing on Barrack Street, Carlow Town earlier that afternoon. The An Post Rás with the assistance of Carlow County Museum as the Stage End Coordinator brought the riders just over 154kms from Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
It is not often that museums mount an exhibition about a living person let alone hold a major street event in their honour. What resulted was an exhibition rekindling memories of an occasion that was front page news in 1973 with a link to the modern day with hundreds of spectators on the streets of the town cheering on the ‘Men of the Rás’.
On Sunday July 8th 1973 thousands gathered on a sunny afternoon in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, to witness the conclusion of the twenty first edition of Ireland’s great bike race, the Rás Tailteann. This ten day gruelling race had visited each of the four provinces and the final stage saw Carlow’s Mike O’Donaghue in the coveted yellow jersey of race leader. After twenty laps of the Phoenix Park’s Polo Ground circuit Mike crossed the line as the only Carlow man so far and the first from the south east to win the Rás Tailteann More>>>
Ryan Fallon's Junior Cert Woodwork Project 2014 Based On The Rás
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