Jack Sadler took a great stage win last year and he is one of a large number of Irish riders looking for success in the Junior Tour of Ireland 2013, which starts in Co Clare this evening.
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By Brian Canty
The eagerly-anticipated Junior Tour of Ireland gets underway in Ennis in Co Clare this evening, Tuesday, with 78 riders from 25 teams set to do battle over six gruelling stages.
The race has proven to be one of the most fertile breeding grounds for stars of the future with several previous winners going on to enjoy distinguished careers in the ProTour ranks.
Ireland has had many winners since the race began in 1978 and hopes are high that a home-based rider can end a four-year drought this time around.
Sam Bennett was the last Irish winner when he claimed the yellow jersey in 2009. But since then it has been the dominance of the Hot Tubes teams from the USA that has stolen the limelight.
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They’ve won the last two editions of the race but are not back to defend their title because the race clashes with the National criterium series over in the US. However, given the strength in depth in the Irish junior scene this year, it is likely the Americans would not have taken the spoils this year if they had travelled.
There is one American team in Ireland for the event, with Team Novo-Nordisk lining up alongside squads from the UK, France and Holland, as well as the Irish teams in the field.
Gone are the days of the 1990s when up to 200 riders would take to the start line, but there has been a bigger field over the last number of years and hopes are high that an Irish winner can emerge this time around.
Of those most likely to contend are members of the Irish National Team and the Nicolas Roche Performance Team.
From the former, Dylan Foley and Eddie Dunbar have taken several wins already this year and Dunbar has been in particularly good form of late.
He has soloed to wins in Coachford and Dungarvan against seasoned A2 riders, while Foley’s form is no less impressive and he has won in Carrick-on-Suir and Navan this year, to name but a few.
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Also in the Irish team is Thomas Fallon, who has been quieter of late on account of his Leaving Cert exams, while Matthew Doyle could be the ace in the team having based himself in Belgium this year and ridden the World Road Race Championships last year as a first-year junior.
Foley rode on the Irish team last year in support of Cormac Clarke who finished third, but will most likely command a more important role this time. But in truth, all four are capable of leaving their mark on the race and with 21 climbs it won’t be a race for the feint hearted.
Amazingly, only two Irish riders made the top 20 overall last year, Clarke and Danny Bruton, and the latter is back again hoping for more.
He will ride in one of the two Nicolas Roche Performance teams and will definitely target a stage win.
He was third on the final stage last year and 19th overall. National Junior Champion Liam Corcoran is another who’ll look for stage wins while Mark Downey could be a contender for the mountains jersey, such is his climbing prowess.
It’s the team’s first season and they’ve performed well to date. But this will be their biggest test yet and a real examination of how they work together as a unit.
There are representative teams from three of the four provinces- Connacht being the exception - and each have the potential to do well.
Connacht has two club teams in the field, with Donamon Dynamos and Western Lakes both entering.
For Cycling Munster, Jason Prendergast and Jamie Blanchfield are a nice pairing. Both have endless energy reserves and will attack as often as possible.
Leinster are spearheaded by David Fitzsimons and Craig Arrigan while Ciarán Campbell is an excellent sprinter and has won races in the A3 category this year.
There are also the two Munster Sensa teams with any number of riders capable of performing.
Sean Hahessy is just getting back after completing his Leaving Cert and he’ll have Cian Dwyer, Mark O’Callaghan and Conor Trihy with him, while the other team has Dylan O’Brien, Jack Sadler, Stephen Shanahan and Henry Cooke; all names that have regularly featured this year in race results.
But undoubtedly it’s what the foreign teams bring to the race that will also help dictate the outcome.
And in the Tempo Bruns team from Veldhoven there are some top class talents. Chris Van Brussel rode here last year and helped his teammate to sixth overall while the two UK teams, Bike Treks and Devere Cycles are very much an unknown quantity, which makes them dangerous.
There’s a Cycling Amsterdam team and a squad from Caen in France while the warmest of welcomes must be reserved for the Novo Nordisk team who are making waves in the pro cycling circuit for featuring a team in the Continental ranks consisting entirely of diabetics. Their four-man team all have the condition and what a story it would be if one of them could pull off a stage win.
Racing gets underway this evening in Ennis at 7pm with an 11-kilometre time trial which features a number of drags.
Tomorrow is the longest day and heads inland to Sixmilebridge, Killaloe, Scarriff and finishes in Barefield. There are five climbs, all category threes but Thursday is a shorter day at just 103 kilometres. The riders will head in a north westerly direction however, and can expect strong crosswinds and dead roads, as well as three climbs.
Friday is the queen stage as there are six climbs, one of two category one ascents and 110 kilometres of racing.
Saturday takes the riders south towards Clarecastle, Kilrush, Kilmihil and into the finish in Cooraclare and is just 80 kilometres in total. But Sunday is another leg breaker and has five categorised climbs, four coming in the space of 40 kilometres midway through the race before the race finishes atop the category one Gallows Hill.
It promises to be another epic.
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