CYCLING:FORMER BELGIAN time trial champion Bert Roesems is the latest big name to be confirmed for this year's FBD Insurance Rás. The 36-year-old will lead the Australian-registered Cinelli-Down Under team in the race, which begins in Kilcullen on May 17th.
Roesems previously competed with the ProTour Silence-Lotto squad and won races such as the Grand Prix de Denain, Halle-Ingooigem and Nokere Koerse as well as stages of the Tour de la Region Wallonne and the Circuit Franco-Belge.
General manager Gilbert de Weerdt said that sort of experience will be of benefit to Roesems and the team itself. “Bert has been in ProTour squads for several years and is now the team captain to learn the younger riders,” he said. “With starts in all the big Tours and all the Classics, he has all the experience to guide the team during the race.”
The team’s challenge is also likely to be based around Logan Hutchings, a 25-year-old who was the 2008 New Zealand time trial champion and who previously finished second in the final ranking of the UCI Oceania continental tour. They will be joined by the Belgians Peter Ronsse and Steven De Weert, plus the Australian Glen Mitchell.
The team is likely to be managed by the now-retired Belgian Nico Mattan. He is a former winner of Gent-Wevelgem and the prologue of Paris-Nice.
Leon Van Bon was also confirmed this week as leading the Trek Marco Polo team, a double Tour de France stage winner and world road race championship bronze medallist.
Van Bon has also won stages in the Tours of Spain, Switzerland and Germany, as well as placing fourth in both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix Classics. He will be joined by the Briton James Spragg, Dutchman Eric van de Meent, plus South Africans Jacques Janse van Rensburg and Jaco Venter.
Race organiser Dermot Dignam is looking forward to what he feels will be a memorable edition of the Irish tour. “This year’s line-up is very exciting, with two former stage winners in the Tour de France, Bert Roesems and other experienced professionals set to take part. I’m convinced that this year’s FBD Rás is going to be a superb race.”
At home, riders will fine-tune their preparation for that event by lining out in the Tour of Ulster. The three-day race begins tomorrow in Omagh with a stage of just over 75 miles. It includes the category one Sion Finn climb plus another third category ascent. The race will then continue with a very hilly leg on Sunday morning, and then a 2.3-mile time trial that evening. The final stage is approximately 65 miles in length.
Favourites for the race include Martyn Irvine (Curran Racing), Brian Kenneally (Engraveit.ie/Cycleways) and Paul Griffin (Killorglin Credit Union), who have all been in good form this season. Irvine was fifth in the East Midlands International Classic last weekend and won the Tour of the North in recent weeks.
Saturday-Monday:Tour of Ulster. Stage one starts in Omagh. Corkman 3 Day, Kanturk. Saturday: Information day for Race Around Ireland. Starts 10am in Dublin City University (DCU). Sunday: XC NPS 3, Carlingford Forest. First races at noon. IVCA 70km, Curragh. Starts 9.15am.
