The strongest line-up for the FBD Milk Ras includes four professional squads among the impressive overseas field announced yesterday for this year's race. The Swiss Fisconseils outfit, Team HSBC from South Africa, Legia-Bazliszek from Poland and Canadian team Jet Fuel Coffee will contest the Irish tour, which starts on May 20th.
The Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, gave details of 16 foreign squads who will travel to Ireland for the eight-day event. Attracted by the lure of world-ranking points, the division three trade teams are joined by squads from the US, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Britain, Scotland and Wales, with whom defending champion Julian Winn will compete.
They will clash with the previously announced Irish national selection and 21 county teams, bringing the field to a record 190 riders.
The 1,119 km event was elevated to the UCI international calendar last autumn and has since attracted much interest from abroad.
"The world ranking points have meant that many more big teams have been interested in travelling this year," said race organiser Dermot Dignam. "It is a fantastic line-up and is certainly the best we have ever had. I feel that the quality of the field means that the race is going to be wide open until the final stage, despite the tough course which we have planned."
The news will come as a relief to Irish cycling, after previous concerns that the teams from certain countries might be precluded from racing due to foot-and-mouth concerns. But the Department of Agriculture's Expert Group is satisfied that there is no risk of riders bringing the disease into the country.
Competitors from affected areas will be unable to compete, while a strict protocol of measures, including disinfection, must be followed by all teams when travelling to the race, and during their stay.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the Tour de France have confirmed Italian stars Marco Pantani and Mario Cipollini will miss this year's race, with the news that their Mercantone Uno and Saeco teams have not been selected to ride.
The Societe du Tour de France yesterday finalised the five wild-card entries for this year's event and there is no place for either the 1998 champion Pantani, or multiple stage winner Cipollini. They also decided to bypass the burgeoning Mercury outfit despite their 11th position in the world rankings.
The recent doping allegations concerning Pantani are interpreted as a reason for Mercantone Uno's exclusion, although his poor early season form made that decision easier. The flamboyant Cipollini has been more successful of late, but the dwindling strength of his Saeco side clearly hampered his chances of making it into the race.
The Teams
Germany: Team Deutsche Telekom
Belgium: Domo-Farm Frites, LottoAdecco
Spain: Ibanesto.com, Kelme-Costa Blanca, ONCE, Euskaltel-Euskadi
US: US Postal Service
Denmark: CSC-World Online
France: AG2R Prevoyance, Bonjour, Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone, Credit Agricole, Festina, Jean Delatour, La Franaise des Jeux, BigMat-Auber 93
Italy: Fassa Bortolo, Lampre Daikin, Mapei-Quick Step
Netherlands: Rabobank
