CYCLING: Chances of a home victory in the FBD Insurance Rás have been boosted by the news that the national road-race champion David O'Loughlin will lead a powerful Grant Thornton Ireland team in the eight-day race, which begins less than three weeks from now.
O'Loughlin has been released by his Navigators Insurance team for the duration of the Irish tour, enabling him to don the green jersey and try to improve on his third place overall and stage win in the 2004 Rás.
Also returning from competing abroad are two other Irish champions. National under-23 title-holder Páidí O'Brien and hill-climb winner Roger Aiken have been competing in Belgium as part of the continental Seán Kelly ACLVB M Donnelly Racing Team.
Aiken won the first stage last May, while O'Brien showed great form this week when he finished a fine 11th in the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic. Conor Murphy has also been released by his continental team for the event.
He recently took third in the Shay Elliott Memorial and second in the Tour of Ulster, and has been competing this year as part of the Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group Continental squad. However, the team management have agreed to release him for the Rás.
"He (Conor) is a very talented rider and while we would have liked to have him on our team for the Rás, being selected to represent Ireland is a great honour," said chief sponsor Stephen Murphy.
The Ireland squad is completed by Ryan Connor, who won a stage in the Tour of Ulster and took overall victory in the P&O Irish Sea Tour of the North. He is a good climber and proven time-trialist, the Ulster rider having won the British junior title in 2003.
Tamara O'Driscoll, CEO of Cycling Ireland, stressed the importance of a strong home line-up.
"We were determined to enter a strong team into the Rás this year to properly reflect the high standard of racing that Irish cycling is currently experiencing," she said.
This year's Rás begins in Dublin on May 21st and finishes eight days and over 1,200km later in Skerries on Sunday May 28th. The world-ranking race will feature exciting stage finishes in Enniscorthy, Cobh, An Daingean, Listowel, An Cheathrú Rua, Westport and Clara.
