Ireland is represented by no fewer than eight riders at this weekend's Junior Tour of Wales, which gets underway today and continues tomorrow and Monday.
There is a four-man Munster Sensa Team led by Eddie Dunbar which also includes Sean Hahessy, Stephen Shanahan and Dylan O'Brien.
All four took medals at last weekend's National Junior Championships in Omagh, Co Tyrone, so should be right there in the mix again this weekend.
The Nicolas Roche Performance Team has also traveled over and boasts a strong three-man line-up of Danny Bruton, David McCarthy and Darragh Long.
And the eighth Irishman is Darragh Campbell, who is once again a guest with the US-based Team Novo Nordisk.
Dan Martin was the last Irishman to win the race, in 2004; a year when current Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas was second. And it’s that kind of calibre of rider that has made the race such an accurate predictor of future success.
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Martin won the opening TT in 2004 by over a minute – though the effort itself was only around 12 minutes. And Eddie Dunbar will fancy his chances on the opening stage this morning, Saturday; a 7.2 kilometre test against the clock.
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This afternoon sees the riders tackle a 72 kilometre road stage while tomorrow, Sunday, involves a morning criterium in Parc Bryn Bach.
There’s no let-up in the races tomorrow, as the riders will tackle a 92 kilometre stage on a rolling course in the afternoon.
Monday’s final stage is the longest, at 100 kilometres, with two KOM’s and two sprint points.
The Irish contingent traveled over yesterday, Friday, from Dublin Port to Holyhead followed by the 3-4 hour journey south to their base in Ebbw Vale just north of Newport.
Philip Finnegan takes charge of the Nicolas Roche team and is assisted by Conor Bruton, while Danny Curtin manages the Munster team with the help of Kevin Hayes.
Meanwhile, the Nicolas Roche Performance Team has also secured two invites for the time-trial of the prestigious Chrono GP in October in France. It is likely that both Dylan Foley and Mark Downey will be the two members of the team represented there.
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