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Four Ambitious British Teams Add To Confirmed Lineup For An Post Rás
One year after he won the opening stage of the An Post Rás, Marcin Bialoblocki has been confirmed as leading the Team UK Youth squad for the upcoming edition of the An Post Rás.
The Polish rider triumphed into Kilkenny and then went on to place second on two stages, third on another and to take second in the points classification. He was also a fine sixth overall. That performance built on his 2011 display when he won a very aggressively-raced stage six into Tramore.
He will be joined by Rob Partridge, who finished sixth overall in 2010, and who was eighth in the Tour of Britain the same year. The 2012 Tour of Brittany mountains jersey winner will share leadership with Bialoblocki, and the duo will be supported by James Lowsley-Williams, Richard Tanguy and Josh Hunt, the younger brother of former World Tour pro Jeremy Hunt. Stage wins and the general classification will once again be the target for the squad.
Also returning are the IG Sigma Sport team, which includes the Irish rider Peter Hawkins and the Briton Pete Williams, who was second overall in 2010. He also took the sprints jersey in last year¹s Tour of Britain, showing his quality.
Hawkins won a stage of last year’s Tour of the North and later finished sixth on stage three of the 2012 Tour of Britain. He was also the runner up slot at last year's Tour of the Reservoir. According to team manager Becky Frewing he has big ambitions. “Peter believes he can win overall and we will obviously look at stage wins too.”
The overall 2012 Tour of the North winner James Moss will likely travel, while the line-up will be completed by two out of Matt Cronshaw, Joe Perrett or Wouter Sybrandy.
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| Marcin Bialoblocki, Britain Node4 Giordana Racing Takes Stage One Into Kilkenny 2012 |
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The Route Map
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| The Route Map |
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Two Strong British Squads Join Foreign Contenders For An Post Rás
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| Richard Handley Rapha CondorJLT |
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| Mike Cuming Rapha Condor JLT |
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 outfit and the Great Britain development squad are the sixth and seventh overseas teams to be confirmed thus far, joining the previously announced squads Czech AC Sparta Praha, Denmark Blue Water, Germany Bike Aid, Austria Gebruder Weiss plus the Canadian national team.
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.”
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| Alistar Slater G B Development Squad |
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| Owain Doull G B Development Squad |
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.
The line-up includes Simon Yates, the world points race champion and a stage winner in the Tour de l’Avenir, plus Beijing World Cup 2011 Omnium track race winner Sam Harrison, who has also taken silver and bronze in the team pursuit at the world track championships.
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. More>>>
Austrain And German Teams Increase International Challenge For An Post Rás
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| Andreas Muller Austria |
The Austria Pro Gerbrudur Weiss team and the Germany Bike Aid team are the latest international squads to confirm their place in this year’s An Post Rás.
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.
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| Timo Scháfer Germany |
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.
According to team manager Erwin Hortl, the riders are pinpointing the event as a key race in their calendar. “Our goal is to continue the team’s performance from our last start in 2010. We want to achieve a good race and we will try to get onto the podium,” he said. More>>>
Denmark Blue Water Cycling Team Return To 2013 An Post Rås With Big Ambitions
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| Jacob Neilsen, Bluewater Cycling, Denmark In The Green Jersey 2012 |
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| Soren Pugdahl, Bluewater Cycling, Denmark |
Following on from a successful debut campaign in 2012 when it picked up two stage wins plus second in the best young rider classification, the Denmark Blue Water Cycling team will return to this year’s An Post Rás with big ambitions.
According to Jacob Nielsen, who was second on stage one last year, the team is determined to perform at least as well as it did last May, if not to improve on that.
“As this is our second year at the Rás we know what to expect. In 2012 we won two stages and we are coming to Ireland in May to win stages and do well in the overall,” he said, confirming the team’s attendance and goals.
Last time round Mark Sehested Pedersen won stage four to Bundoran, then Lasse Norman Hansen followed that up three days later with victory into Cootehill. Norman Hansen finished second in the Irish Sports Council Under 23 classification, and later went on to win the Omnium title in the London Olympics.
While neither rider are scheduled to take part this time round, the team has an extremely solid lineup in place. Nielsen (35) will be back and as a former world junior road race silver medallist and the 2009 winner of the UCI-ranked GP Copenhagen, he is capable of big performances. More>>>
Al Sutton UCI Appointed Cheif Commissaire An post Rås 2013
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| Al Sutton Scotland Cheif Commissaire An Post Rås 2013 |
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2012 Podium Finisher Hunal To Lead Czech AC Sparta Praha Team In An Post Rás
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| Martin Hunal 3rd. Overall 2012 |
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| Rostislav Krotky Returnes To The Rás |
Following in from last week’s announcement of the first international squad for this year’s An Post Rás, the Canadia national team, the race organisers have now confirmed that the strong Czech Republic AC Sparta Praha lineup will return to this year’s event.
One year ago Martin Hunal finished an excellent third overall in the race, ending the eight day contest just seventeen seconds behind the overall winner Nicolas Baldo. He was also second on stage five into Buncrana, and second in the One4All Bikes4Work King of the Mountains classification.
Fired up by those near misses, 23 year old Hunal will travel to Ireland this year determined to clock up some victories.
He will share leadership with 27 year old Tomas Okrouhlicky, who was third in the national time trial championships two years ago, and who could also challenge in the An Post Rás. More>>>
Canadian National Team First Of The Overseas Squads To Be Confirmed For 2013 An Post Rás
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| Stuart Wight Junior Tour Of Ireland Winner 2010 |
Slightly under two months before the start of the race, the first of many foreign teams to compete in this year’s An Post Rás has been announced, with the Canadian national team set to make the trip to Ireland for the eight day contest.
Cycling Canada development coach and team manager Luc Arseneau has said that his riders will aim to have a very strong race. “We are really looking forward to participating in the As Post Rás for the first time. We’ve heard good things about the event, and we are confident it will fit our riders well,” he stated.
While the final selection will be determined closer to the event, Arseneau has narrowed down the list of potential riders. These include Stuart Wight, the winner of the 2010 Irish international Junior Tour, Canadian national track team rider Rémi Pelletier-Roy, 2012 Tour de Banff winner Kristofer Dahl, former under 23 Canadian criterium champion Garrett McLeod, national individual pursuit record holder Alex Cataford plus the 2011 Tour de l’Avenir runner-up David Boily.
With this being the first year after the Olympic Games, it is a time of transition for many national teams. Some riders will retire while others will begin working towards Rio 2016.
“The main objective of Cycling Canada this summer will be to turn the page on 2012 Games and look forward to a long term development path as well as to align our road program with our track one,” Arseneau explained. “For the An Post Rás, we will be aligning a good young team for our first time at this great event. More>>>
Race Headquarters 2013
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Hotel Co-Ordinates 2013
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