Irish women’s key event of season, An Post Rás na mBan to be shown on British Eurosport

Always a hard fought event, now fans outside Ireland will get a chance to see An Post Rás na mBan thanks to a new deal that will see it broadcast by British Eurosport (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)

The organisers of the An Post Rás na mBan Irish stage race for women have pulled off a great coup in securing a broadcasting deal that will see British Eurosport broadcast the event.

The TV channel – which dubs itself the home of cycling – will put together a half-hour highlights package. It will be aired three weeks after the event on October 8^th and is then expected to be repeated a number of times.

The race, which will feature riders from 11 different nations including four current and two recent elite national champions, takes place on the roads of one of Ireland's most scenic counties, Co Clare.

A field of 107 riders is set to take to the start line this year, with the race getting underway on Wednesday, September 11^th. There are six stages for the riders to tackle over the five days of the event.

News the race is to be broadcast on TV comes just a couple of months after the Junior Tour of Ireland was broadcast on Setanta for the first time, with that airing in Ireland, the UK and South Africa.

British Eurosport has confirmed that highlights of Rás na mBan will be broadcast at 4pm on October 8th, immediately after live coverage of the Binche-Tournai-Binche Frank Vandenbroucke Memorial from Belgium.

“We are very pleased to bring coverage of the Rás na mBan to our viewers for the first time,” said British Eurosport managing director David Kerr.

“Cycling is a key sport for the channel and its continuing growth in popularity has been reflected in our successful ratings this season. We enjoyed our best ever audience for the Milan San Remo and Giro d’Italia earlier this year and we’re looking forward to broadcasting the upcoming Tour of Britain live.”

British Eurosport is available on BT TV, Sky, Virgin Media and UPC Ireland.

An Post Rás na mBan race director, Valerie Considine said the new broadcasting deal, believed to be funded by An Post, was an exciting stage in the development of the event.

"Our race is growing in stature and this opportunity reflects the overall increase in interest in women's bike racing in general," she said.

"The generous support of An Post, Clare County Council and the National Dairy Council has allowed us to bring the race to a much wider audience with this broadcast, an important development for the event."

We’ll have lots more on the race as it draws closer.