Clemens Fankhauser took the yellow jersey in last year's Rás and is among the internatonal riders coming back this year (Photo: Ramsey Cardy – Sportsfile)
By Brian Canty
Defending An Post Rás champion Clemens Fankhauser is set to return to the race in May after being named as a confirmed starter for his new Hrinkow Advarics Cycleang team.
The Austrian took the yellow jersey on the fifth stage last year and defended it with the help of his team all the way to the finish in Skerries.
The likeable 29-year-old said the reception he got in Ireland was one of the big reasons why he wanted to return again.
“There was a great flair with the race – the people around it, the spectators, and there was great media coverage on the race. It was brilliant,” he said
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“Also, with the last stage in Skerries – there was such a big, amazing crowd.
"You don’t have many 2.2 races where you see such enthusiasm from the people. So I’m really happy to be going back again this year.”
Alex Wetterhall won a brilliant version of the then FBD Insurance Rás in 2010. The Sweden Team Sprocket man will return again this year, this time for the Swedish Continental-level Tre Berg – Bianchi squad.
The other riders in the team are yet to be finalised though it is expected former Austrian hill climb champion and Tour de Suisse sprint jersey wearer Josef Benetseder and the experienced former Pro Continental rider Dominik Hrinkow will be there.
European madison track champion Andreas Müller will also likely be on the start line.
Also confirmed for the race is 2010 winner Alex Wetterhall who will lead the Swedish Continental-level Tre Berg–Bianchi squad.
Wetterhall is likely to be joined by two-time Swedish criterium champion Sebastian Balck and Lucas Eriksson, who placed sixth and seventh at the Junior World Championships in 2013 and 2014.
The other two places on the team may go to 2013 Memorial Pigoni Coli runner-up Kim Magnusson and Niklas Gustavsson, who was third in the 2012 London Nocturne.
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Interestingly the team are managed by Tomas Löfkvist, a former Rás rider who forged a successful professional career with top teams including Team High Road and Team Sky.
His results include overall victory in the 2013 Tour of the Mediterranean with Team IAM Cycling.
Irishman Anthony Murray will again ride for the Australian Subaru Albion team at this year’s Rás. The Westport man finished 23rd overall last year and is hoping to improve on that.
And the third team who’ve confirmed their participation are the Australian Subaru Albion team.
They arrive in Ireland in mid-April and will compete in the Tour of Ulster and the Shay Elliott Memorial as a build up to the race.
“As this is our third year riding the Rás, we will definitely be looking for a stage win,” said David Early, who will be working with the team.
“I know one of the guys has earmarked the first stage as a possibility and Anthony Murray is looking to improve on last year’s result. He is targeting a top 10 in the General Classification.”
Murray finished 23rd overall last year and was also 7th overall in the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan.
The team will be led by the 2013 Sydney road champion Keegan Aitchison, who has ridden the race twice before.
2013 New Zealand Under-23 Road Champion, Richard Lawson is chasing a stage win in his Rás debut, while Dave Logue Classic winner, Daniel Molyneaux and Morgan Smith are also likely to be part of the line-up.
The 2015 An Post Rás will begin in Dunboyne on May 17th and will feature stage finishes in Carlow, Tipperary, Bearna, Newport, Ballina, Ballinamore, Drogheda and Skerries.
It will total almost 1200 kilometres in length and will include 21 categorised climbs.
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