CYCLING Round-up: Talented first-year professional Philip Deignan ended the three-day Paris-Corrèze event eighth overall yesterday, finishing 32 seconds off winner Frédéric Finot of the Française des Jeux team.
The 21-year-old had started the day sixth and level on time with leader Dimitriy Fofonov (Cofidis), but stage winner Finot and several others got clear before the race end in Chaumeil, jumping up the general classification.
Deignan's Ag2R-Prévoyance team will nevertheless be pleased with the Irishman's showing in the 2.1-ranked racing, especially as it comes just a week after he finished seventh in the Tour de la Région Wallonne.
Team-mate Mark Scanlon and former Irish international Nicolas Roche were also in action yesterday. The former finished 31st on stage two of the Tour of Denmark and is now 47th overall, while Roche placed 51st in Wednesday's prologue, came home as part of the main bunch yesterday and is now 52nd overall in the ProTour event.
In other news, Navigators Insurance professionals Ciarán Power and David O'Loughlin have confirmed their schedules after a break from competition with the New Jersey based team. O'Loughlin's next race with the squad is at the USPro criterium championships on August 21st, after which he will line out in the Thater Memorial on August 28th and the prestigious San Francisco GP on September 4th.
Power will compete with five other Navigators riders in the Tour of Britain, from August 30th until September 4th. Both hope to be selected for the world road race championships in Madrid at the end of September.
Meanwhile Cycling Ireland have announced that junior riders Martin Munroe, Michael Murray and Maurice O'Brien will compete in the world track championships in Vienna, Austria, which start on Sunday.
The organisers of this year's FBD Rás have confirmed that all anti-doping checks carried out were negative. In all 32 riders were tested during the eight-day event.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday: Kilnaleck Festival Race, 6.30pm; Orchard Youth Classic, Hamiltonsbawn, 1pm; Track racing, Sundrive Park, Kimmage, sign on from 10am; Ballinrobe Two-day, Co Mayo, stage one, 3pm.
Sunday: CI DH NPS, round five, Mount Hillary, Mallow, Co Cork, noon; Tour of Armagh, Craigavon Water Sports Centre, noon; Swords Grand Prix, Ballyboughil, Co Dublin, 1pm.
