The 2013 Rás Mumhan will be fought out by domestic riders and foreign invaders
Foreign entries are coming in thick and fast for the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan over the Easter Weekend, with the Isle of Man to have a team on the start line and the Dutch set to have now fewer than three.
The first team from Holland to name its line-up for the 2013 edition is West Frisia, with Tino Haakman due to line out as leader.
He will be making his tenth appearance in the race and finished 2nd on a stage to home rider Paul Griffin in Waterville in 2011 and 5th on the tough stage to Conor Pass two years earlier. His team mate Silvian Buis will be back in Kerry for his third Rás Mumhan, having finished second on the final rain-sodden stage last year to overall winner Denis Baaker.
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Also making a return to the race for West Frisia is Gert Jan Jonkman, who was 4th overall in 2009. This year, the team will be joined by two newcomers; U23 riders Harry Sweering and Ruben Dorren, who have reputations as good climbers.
From slightly closer to home, the Isle of Man has named the evergreen former FBD Rás winner and Irish international Andrew Roche in its line-up for the Kerry sufferfest.
The talented bike rider turned coach was runner up to Paidi O’ Brien on the final stage in 2011 and was 4th overall in 2010.
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He will be joined on the starting line by Graeme Hatcher, who was 12th overall in 2011, and Elliot Baxter who has also been at the race for the past two years. The line up will be completed by Darren Bell and Chris Whorrall.
One of the local driving forces behind the event, Tadhg Moriarty tells stickybottle the prize fund this year is a total of €6,000 for the race that starts on Good Friday March 29th and finishes on Easter Monday April 1st. Teams from Luxembourg, Italy and England have also signalled their intention to ride.
Route Details
Stage 1: Good Friday, March 29th, the Sliabh Luachra Stage, will start at 3.30pm and will consist of 100 km that will take riders to the Sliabh Luachra area of East Kerry, starting in Killorglin, onto Killarney, Kilcummin, Scartaglin, Castleisland, Firies, Castlemaine, Milltown and finishing in Killorglin at approx 6.00pm. This is the same route as last year.
Stage 2: Easter Saturday, March 30th, the Kenmare, Beara & Healy Pass Stage will start at 12pm & will take riders on a 150km loop through the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. After starting in Kenmare the race will head out the Tunnell road to Glengarriffe, swing left here to Adrigole, Castletownbere, Eyries, Ardgroom, followed by a right turn at Lauragh up to the Healy Pass, then back down to Adrigole. The race turns left here and retraces the outward section back to Glengarriffe and onto the Tunnell road to finish in Kenmare at 4pm.The Tunnell road also has the Caha Pass Climb both times.
Stage 3: Easter Sunday, March 31st, the Waterville and Valentia Island Stage is in South Kerry which has proved to be a huge success over the last few years. There is a noon start again with the same route as last year, starting and finishing in Waterville. The route will take riders from the start at Waterville to the Glen, onto Cahirciveen, Dromid, back to within 3km of the start before the trip to Valentia Island, St. Finian’s Bay and back to finish in Waterville at approximately 3.30pm after a total distance of 142km.
Stage 4: Easter Monday, April 1st, the Beaufort & Killorglin Stage takes place in the Mid Kerry area and has an early start of 10am in order to give everybody with long journeys home an early finish at 1pm. The route will be familiar to many as it has been used on the final day many times. There are 3 laps of the Beaufort /Killorglin circuit and then onto the shorter Donal McKenna lap to be covered 10 times before the final chequered flag, after a total of 114km.
Clubs, teams or individuals interested in taking part in the race should contact the race secretary, Mary Concannon: Tel: 00 353 64 44396 / 00 353 87 2802071, [email protected].
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