Last year Jan-Willem Van Schip took a great win on stage 2 of the Rás. Since then he's been ripping it up in races like Gent-Wevelgem. And his team will be in Rás 2018 next month.
Delta Cycling Rotterdam, Team KTM UK for Rás
Having won four stages of the Rás in the last two years, the Delta Cycling Rotterdam team is back for more next month.
It is returning with five young riders, all of whom will be making their Irish racing debuts. Last year the squad won stages 2 and 7 with Jan-Willem Van Schip and Daan Meijers.
And while Meijers has since retired from racing, Van Schip has progressed to the Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij ProContinental team.
He recently finished 12th in Gent-Wevelgem, after animating the race from the breakaway. Still just 23 years old, he is exactly the type of rider the team is trying to develop at races like the Rás.
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This year them come back with Jason van Dalen, Adriaan Janssen, Gijs Meijer, Sjoerd Bax and Rens Tulner.
Van Dalen (23) has won some very good races and showed his form recently with sixth in the Tour de Normandie. Janssen (22) rode as a stagiaire last year with the WorldTour team Lotto-JumboNL.
Meijer (19) was 2nd on last year’s Ronde van Zuid-Oost Friesland, while Bax (22) won the Eurode Omloop top competitive event. Tulner (20) was 12th in the under 23 Dutch national time trial championships.
“Our first goal is to win a stage,” said team manager Jim van den Berg. “We strongly believe in by riding for stage wins, the classification will follow automatically.
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“We will not start with protected riders who will try to save energy. That might be a tactic later on, when the general classification comes within reach.”
The team will prepare for the Rás with a series of one-day races in Holland and Belgium.
Joining them on the start line in Drogheda next month is Team KTM UK. It will be making its Rás debut with Will Fox, Andy Turner, Callum Ferguson and Fraser Rounds.
The final rider will be either Peter Barusevicus or Kieran Brady.
Fox was 4th on a stage of the Tour of Bulgaria last season. Turner was 3rd in the Severn Bridge road race. Ferguson was 2nd on the queen stage of the Tour of Bulgaria 2017.
“At the outset we are planning to have three to four riders as high on GC as possible and aim for the team prize,” said manager Paul Lamb.
“We have a team of good all-rounders and a rider in Will Fox who we will target selectively for stage wins.
“Depending on how the race pans out we may then select a protected rider if we have someone in the top 10 on GC.”
Rás director Eimear Dignam said having last week unveiled Canyon Eisberg and Saint Piran for the race, it was great to welcome another two quality outfits.
“We are looking forward to seeing both squads performing in the Rás Tailteann,” she said. “The Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam team has been one of the strongest in recent editions.
“In n addition to the stage wins achieved, (they) did much to animate the racing.
“As for Britain Team KTM; we are confident that they will race hard and aim for a big debut in the Rás.”
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