Eoin McCarthy, above, is just one of the An Post-Chainreaction riders stricken with bad luck in recent weeks and he will miss the Rás. Jack Wilson is the other Irish man set to miss out but Ryan Mullen, Sean Downey and Conor Dunne are all fit and available for selection.
While the An Post-Chainreaction team has traditionally brought a team to the Rás with as many Irish riders as possible, next month’s outing will be a little different.
Recent crashes have sidelined Eoin McCarthy and Jack Wilson and the team has confirmed today that neither will be on the start line in Dunboyne, Co Meath, next month.
However, exciting prospect Ryan Mullen will make is Rás debut in what is his third year as an U23 rider.
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And former stage winner and yellow jersey Conor Dunne is in the hunt to make the team, as is Sean Downey who was 6th overall last year and is a potential overall victor.
Ryan Mullen will ride the Rás this year and it will be interesting to see if he can challenge for stage or overall honours (Photo: Sirotti)
“Ryan Mullen is racing again this weekend after his crash in the Under 23 Tour of Flanders. He is a certainty for the (Rás),” said team manager Kurt Bogaerts.
“Another rider I would like to be there is Aidis Kroupis, although he has a really bad saddle sore at the moment and won’t be able to race this weekend. It depends on how he recovers from that.
“Of the other Irish guys, Conor Dunne and Sean Downey are in contention. Jack Wilson definitely won’t make (the) Rás due his fractured collarbone and scaphoid.
“There is also a similar situation for Eoin McCarthy due to his two bad crashes this year.
“They will likely both be out of action until June as there is no point in throwing them into racing directly before they get in a block of good training again.”
Jack Wilson has suffered broken bones meaning he will not ride Ireland's showpiece event next month. He would have used the race to continue to gain experience and help others gain the kind of results the team is under pressure to secure in an event backed by its title sponsor (Photo: Lydia Van de Meerssche)
Bogaerts added Belgian Xandro Meurisse, Kiwi Aaron Gate and the Britons Alistair Slater and Joshua Edmondson are also in the pool of riders who could be selected for the five man team.
The final selection will depend on who goes to the Tour of Azerbaijan just before the Rás and how they fare there.
Bogaerts said his team’s goals for the Rás were still a work in progress.
“In the winter I said that I was hoping to go for the general classification and a lot of stages.
“Now with the circumstances we have in relation to illness and injuries, making those goals a reality is a little more complex.
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“Hopefully things settle down well and we can head to the race with riders in strong form.”
Sean Downey has continued to progress well and finished 6th in the Rás last year. If he got some luck and his top form he is capable of claiming the final yellow jersey (Photo: Toby Watson)
Also confirmed for the Rás are the British Madison Genesis team and the French Pays de Dinan squad.
The British squad is likely to feature the Irishman Dom Jelfs, who was sixth in the National Road Race Championships last year, as well as Liam Holohan, Matt Holmes and Erick Rowsell.
Holohan won the penultimate stage of last year’s An Post Rás, taking it with a superb solo effort.
Holmes is a former silver medallist in the British U23 road championships, and Rowsell showed strong form, taking the Tour of the Reservoir this year. He is also a past stage winner in Tour de Normandie.
A fifth rider will also take part and will be selected closer to the event.
Liam Holohan won the penultimate stage of the Rás in Baltinglass last year with a stunning ride. He's back again this time around (Photo: Ramsey Cardy - Sportsfile)
The Pays de Dinan squad will feature this year’s Fleche d’Armor winner Aurelien Daniel as well as Elie Gesbert, who won the 2013 French junior road race and time trial championships.
Gesbert was also second in the European Time Trial Championships in the same year.
Tour de Lesneven winner Axel Journiaux, Benjamin l’Hermitte and Rodolphe Marie will also be on the team.
According to directeur sportif, Francois Journiaux, Daniel and Journiaux will target stage wins while Gesbert will be their rider for the general classification.
The 2015 An Post Rás will begin in Dunboyne on May 17th and will feature stage finishes in Carlow, Tipperary, Bearna, Newport, Ballina, Ballinamore, Drogheda and Skerries.
It will total almost 1200 kilometres in length and will include 21 categorised climbs.
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