Boasting riders who have a mix of experience with some of the biggest road teams in the sport as well as medals galore at major track championships the Belgian and Swiss teams are coming to the Rás. Above, Claudio Imhof riding as a stagiaire with IAM Cycling
Belgium and Switzerland pick strong teams for Rás
Switzerland and Belgium are sending their track Olympic hopefuls to Ireland next month for the Rás.
Both countries are fielding national teams in the race. And though the riders are already fixed on the Tokyo 2020 velodrome, they are coming to Ireland looking for results.
The Belgian track riders already have a history of ripping it up at the Rás. And both squads feel they are capable of doing the same this time around.
For the Belgians, Rás 2013 stage winner Moreno de Pauw returns. He has six-day wins on his palmares as well as Worlds and Europeans medals.
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Former world madison champion and six-time European champion Kenny de Ketele is also on the team. Jules Hesters, a former European junior track champion, is joining them.
And the line-up is completed by Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys; U23 European madison champions.
Manager Peter Pieters said they will be looking for results in Ireland.
“Our goal for the race is winning stages and placing one rider in the top ten of the general classification,” he said.
The Swiss team will likely be made up of; Cyrille Thièry, Claudio Imhof, Frank Pasche, Thery Schir and Lukas Ruegg.
Thièry rode the team pursuit at the Rio Olympics. He was third in the mountains classification at Flèche du Sud last year.
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He won silver in the Madison in the Europeans last year with one of the men he will ride the Rás with; Imhof.
The latter has won medals on the track at both the Worlds and Europeans.
Pasche and Schir also rode the Rio Olympics and were the 2015 European U23 madison champions.
The final man on the Rás team, Ruegg is a Swiss U23 road international hoping to break through to the elite national track team this year.
National track coach Ross Machejefski said his charges have stage and general classification ambitions for the Rás.
“We are here to ride strongly in individual stages and look for riders such as Schir, Thièry and Imhof to be in break.
“(We want to be) in the hunt for a stage win. Also the main sprinter would be Thery Schir.
“This race is the first big stage race the team is doing for the 2018 season. But each rider will come in having done several races in Switzerland through the spring.
“We look forward to the lap around Ireland and some great racing.”
Race director Eimear Dignam believes both line-ups will bring strength and aggression to the Rás.
“Having these two track teams will add much to the race; they will be aggressive,” she said.
“They will have a strong turn of speed and they will be accustomed to working very well as a unit.
“Together with the international teams previously announced and those yet to be named, there will be a very promising overseas element in this year’s race.”
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