Two Kerry outfits have joined forces to create a new racing club determined to make a mark in the year ahead and beyond.
By Brian Canty
Just one day after news emerged that Dublin club Orwell Wheelers has secured a new sponsorship deal with Scott Bikes, Tralee Bicycle Club has revealed it too has new backing for the year ahead.
iBike, which has stores in Killarney and Listowel, has joined the Manor West Hotel in supporting the team which will now be known as Tralee Manor West Hotel-iBike.
The move involves the Team iBike outfit that has raced in recent years on the domestic front being subsumed into the new joint entity.
The idea for the joint team came about at the end of last season and with a very significant racing membership of 65 riders – part of a total membership of 87 - they look like they mean business.
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Tom Kenny, the club’s PRO said Team iBike had become so big in the three years they’ve been in existence that it made “fantastic sense” to link up with the more established Tralee Manor West Hotel.
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Having departed Tralee BC for Team Aquablue, Olympian Cathal Moynihan will ride for Tralee Manor West Hotel-iBike in the year ahead (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
“The club (iBike) was getting so big that we had to make a decision from a logistical and managerial point of view because I don’t think we could cater for how big it got and how successful it got,” he said.
“Towards the end of the season we talked to Tralee Manor West Hotel - who’ve been to the forefront on the racing side for years and it makes fantastic sense to join.”
Cathal Moynihan, Barry Horgan, George Doyle, Mark Hoolihan, Ronan O’Shea, Paul Horan, Michael Healy are just some of the team’s top riders.
In all, the team now possess the Kerry county champions in the A4, A3 and A2 categories while there will also be a junior team for 2016.
“We’re mainly a racing club and we’ll be catering solely for that side of it,” said Kenny.
“So we’re aiming for Tour of North, Rás Mumhan, Suir Valley Three-day, the Charleville Two-day and the Kanturk Three-Day
“It’s going to be breaking ground with 65 racing guys, 34 new signings, 15 riders at A3 and a good representation in every race we do.”
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