Ronan McLaughlin leads Ireland team mates Sean Downey and Sam Bennett in the Kreiz Breizh Elites in Brittany last year. The race has agreed a new alliance with the An Post Rás.
Irish riders will have an extra incentive to do well in next year’s An Post Rás following the agreement a new initiative that will see a national selection picked from the eight-day race to ride the Kreiz Breizh Elites race in France later in the season.
One of the men behind the idea, Rás race director Tony Campbell said while it was the first time an alliance with another race has been trialled he believes it will offer domestic riders a unique chance to race abroad wearing the Irish jersey.
“It’s something we’ve been planning for a couple of months now,” said Campbell.
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“It was the people in France who run Kreiz Breizh Elites that suggested it. And we were all for it because it’s a great chance for Irish riders. Kreiz Breizh Elites is similar to the Rás in that you have Continental teams, national selections and regional or club teams.”
Though the exact selection criteria are yet to be fully ironed out, getting picked on the Irish team to ride Kreiz Breizh in Brittany three months after the Irish showpiece will be based entirely on performances in the Rás.
For example, the first Irish rider over the line each day in the Rás will be awarded a certain number of points – Campbell suggests a possible six points for the highest Irish finisher down to 1 for the sixth Irishman to finish.
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After the eight days, the five riders with the most points accumulated would be selected for the Irish team for the race in France in early August - the same time as the Suir Valley Three Day.
However, that could potentially see the dynamic of Irish Rás teams change, with riders potentially even sacrificing their respective teams’ chances in the Rás in favour of riding for themselves. But Campbell doesn’t see it like that.
“If guys ride against their teams' instructions for themselves that’s their own business. But at the same time, if guys are strong enough to get up there in the Rás, and go for it, and contend, then so be it.”
Funding for the team is another issue and to this end Campbell is hoping Cycling Ireland or subordinate commissions will back the idea and front up with finance to allay the cost of sending a team on such a trip.
On the face of it, the idea seems like a great one, especially since the inclusion of an Irish national team in the Rás was scrapped last year. With so few national teams going away, it would reintroduce the chances of a good county rider getting an international cap.
There will also be teams from Scotland and Wales travelling to France for the race next year. The French official making the arrangement happen, Alain Baniel is excited about having his ‘Celtic cousins’ race in Brittany.
The twinning or ‘teaming up’ of both races will be known as the Celtic Challenge.
“I had announced at the end of last Kreiz Breizh Elites it was my desire to get closer to the An Post Rás to promote the Celtic culture around cycling. I look forward to working with Tony Campbell for the Celtic Challenge. KBE has always been willing to host foreign teams and Brittany is a land of bike. We are happy to go in this direction.”
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