The 2017 domestic road racing season is less than two months away and we have details of what events are on where and when.
By Brian Canty
Cycling Ireland’s domestic road racing calendar is being finalised, and fixture details obtained by stickybottle reveal a very early start to the season and a packed first few months of the campaign.
Efforts have been made to spread the racing out right through the season following criticism that there are too few races late in the summer.
But, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the pre-Rás period, of February, March, April and early May that sees the biggest concentration of events.
Kerry Group Rás Mumhan and the Tour of the North are on later in the year than 2016 thanks to Easter falling that bit later; Good Friday is April 14th.
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The Visit Nenagh Classic has been the subject of much debate and the organisers even threatened to withdraw it from the calendar because they were initially given a slot they weren’t happy with.
However, that furore has been settled with a Sunday, April 2nd, date for the promotion.
The Des Hanlon Memorial Classic in Carlow is down for decision on March 19th.
The Shay Elliott takes place on May 14th, while the An Post Rás gets underway on Sunday, May 21st.
The Ned Flanagan Memorial kicks things off in a little under eight weeks, on February 12th to be precise.
With many clubs holding pre season inter club races the weekend before the real action begins, it means some riders will be racing from February 5th.
The second weekend of the campaign sees the Travers Engineering Annaclone GP on Saturday, February 18th, with the Phoenix GP and the Dundalk Cycle Trader’s Cup both on the next day.
On Saturday, February 25th, the Dublin Wheelers Open Races in Summerhill, Co Meath, are scheduled and the following day sees the Lacey Cup in Munster, John Haldane Memorial in Ulster and Cycleways Cup in Leinster.
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The following weekend sees things really ramp up with four separate races around the country, though none in Munster or Connacht.
The John Moore Memorial in Ulster is down for decision on March 4th while Rás Naomh Finian in Leinster is before it on February 25th.
And the Newbridge GP and the McCann Cup are being run the following day, again in Leinster and Ulster; Sunday 26th.
Looking forward a little, there are a whopping eight races down for decision on the weekend of March 18th-19th.
The Derrymacash GP organised by Clann Eireann CC is scheduled for March 18th; as are the Wallace Caldwell Memorial, the Markievicz Cup and the Lucan GP.
A day later it’s the Des Hanlon Memorial as well as the Carn Classic, the Seven Springs GP and the Donal Crowley Memorial in Cork.
The first weekend in April is also another bumper period, with races being promoted at eight venues on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2md.
Ex-international Vinnie Gleeson is organising a criterium on May 31st in Limerick and top track man Liam Collins of the Newcastle West Knights club is running his women’s and masters stage race that weekend.
The national road and time-trial championships will be held as usual on the last weekend in June, with Wexford Cycling taking up the reins as organisers for this coming year.
The Minane Bridge Classic will be run in Cork by local club De Ronde Van Cork, taking over from Aqua Blue CC who have previously run it. That event takes place on Sunday July 2nd.
August will see plenty of action too with the likes of the Suir Valley Thee-Day, the National Criterium Championships, the John Beggs Memorial and the Tommy White Memorial in Banbridge.
To September, and two early stage races in the shape of the Bogman Two Day and the Charleville Two Day before the Laragh Classic effectively ends the season on September 2nd; with one Mondello race and TTs and hill climbs to follow.
However, for women there is the An Post Rás na mBan from September 6th.
The National Road and TT Championships are in Wexford from June 22nd to 25th. The National Criterium Championships are in Munster on Saturday, August 17th.
The National Youth Championships were being promoted in Leinster on the last weekend in August and the Masters TT, A3 road and junior TT and road championships are on September 9th and 10th, with the National Hill Climb Championships in Connacht on October 1st.
Full details to follow.
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