Brian Ahern (Orwell) took the county rider prize on stage 7 into Cootehill last year. The new county rider jersey will be hard fought by strong riders like him.
By Brian Canty
The route for this year’s An Post Rás was released earlier today, Tuesday, with organisers opting for a mixture of flat and mountainous stages in the hope of pulling more county riders into the race.
Coupled with the route, there is also a new jersey on offer for the first time ever – ‘the county rider jersey’ – which is sure to have a big influence on those domestic riders still considering racing.
The race itself is slightly longer than last year and will take the riders 1,180 kilometres from the start in Dunboyne on May 19th in an anti-clockwise direction around the country with stage finishes in Longford, Nenagh, Listowel, Glengarriff, Mitchelstown, Carlow, Naas and to the finish in Skerries on May 26th.
Advertisement
The race also has one more category one climb than last year with the riders to go over the Healy Pass on Stage 4, Gorteen (Stage 6), as well as Drumgoff and the Wicklow Gap on Stage 7.
Route designer Stephen O'Sullivan - a son-in-law of Dermot Dignam who stepped down as race organiser last year - is confident he has struck the right balance in coming up with this year’s route.
“It is a different type of course this year,” said O’Sullivan.
Related News
“We wanted to make some changes. The first three stages are pretty flat, which will keep the time gaps close and the suspense high. You don’t need the hills to have good racing. It’s up to the riders to be aggressive and to break things up.”
Tony Campbell, who replaces Dignam as race director, echoed those words: “Part of the thinking was to provide encouragement to the Irish riders to race, as they should be able to compete against the professional teams. The stages are of a length to encourage them to race hard over that distance. But there are also a couple of stages with plenty of hills, and that will give the climbers the chance to make a difference”, Campbell said.
On paper, stages four and seven are the most difficult with the 153 kilometre leg from Listowel to Glengarriff featuring eight categorised climbs with the first one – a category two climb coming inside the opening eight kilometres, while four follow in quick succession - Ladies View (km 82.4), Molls Gap (km 87.3) and Garranes (km 117.1), then the gruelling Healy Pass (km 127) which will result in significant splits.
Stage seven on the penultimate day is no less cruel, with eight climbs on the 142 kilometre trek from Carlow to Naas. Three category three climbs between kilometre 41 and 47 will be leg-breaking enough but after passing through Arklow around the halfway point, riders will need to keep enough in the tank to scale the mighty Drumgoff climb after 92 kilometres.
After that it’s the Wicklow Gap which will be one of the last places for riders with designs on the overall to make a bid for glory.
The final stage is the traditional journey into Skerries in north Dublin which again features the Black Hills circuit. Last year ended in a bunch gallop but solo breaks haven’t been unusual in recent years either, as David McCann and Brian Kenneally have both shown.
We'll have reaction on the route shortly.
Full Route: An Post Rás 2013
- Stage 1, Sunday May 19: Dunboyne to Longford, 135.4 kms:
- Stage 2, Monday May 20: Longford to Nenagh, 160.4 kms:
- Stage 3, Tuesday May 21: Nenagh to Listowel, 141.1 kms:
- Stage 4, Wednesday May 22: Listowel to Glengarriff, 153 kms:
- Stage 5, Thursday May 23: Glengarriff to Michelstown, 150.2 kms:
- Stage 6, Friday May 24: Mitchelstown to Carlow, 154.6 kms:
- Stage 7, Saturday May 25: Carlow to Naas, 141.2 kms:
- Stage 8, Sunday May 26: Naas to Skerries, 144.6 kms:
Total: 1180.5 kms
Topics
