New ‘Planet Tri Racing’ unveils strong line-up; backed by major bike & kit deal

By Brian Canty

The full roster for the newly-formed Planet Tri Racing team - http://www.planet-tri.ie/ - has been announced, with an 11-man line-up set to challenge for all the major one-day and multi-stage races next season.

Former An Post-Sean Kelly rider Paidí O’Brien is the marquee name and having delivered a string of wins for his former team Dan Morrissey-Speedy Spokes this year, the Banteer sprinter could be set for an even more successful forthcoming season, such is the backing he has at his new team.

Seasoned riders like Eddie Barry and Mike Storan are both capable of landing victories of their own and it was the latter who had a large part to play in the formation of the team, having decided to leave West Clare on the basis that their racing team had fallen in numbers in recent years.

“We’re just absolutely delighted that the team has finally been confirmed and we’re all raring to go next season,” said Storan.

“It’s been a few months in the pipeline and in this day and age sponsors are hard to get but we’re just so indebted to Cathal Murphy at Planet Tri in Killaloe who allowed this to become a reality.”

As well as Planet Tri, secondary sponsors Ridley and Spiuk will provide the riders with bikes and gear, respectively, making them one of the most professional outfits on the domestic racing scene.

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“Yeah it was great to get such big names on board and I must say Paidi O’Brien is probably the reason for that because he rode in Belgium and Ridley are a Belgian frame,” said Storan.

“They knew of his pedigree and said it would be good to have their name more in the public domain here. The frames we’ll be using were the ones Lotto-Bellisol used at the Tour last year so whatever about riding professionally, we’ll certainly look professional,” he joked.

The team is certainly capable of landing any win they put their minds to and along with the aforementioned in the A1 category, riders like Alan Loftus and Aidan Gallery –formerly of Limerick CC and Blarney CC respectively, all have big engines and will be a huge help. And despite coming from a triathlon background former Blarney man Owen Cummins is another with massive talent.

But two riders who could be the surprise packages of 2013 are former underage prodigies Barry Meade and Bob Murray.

Meade was a frightening prospect before he stopped racing at around 17 but since coming back last year he notched a few wins, most notably the Charleville Park 2-Day in dramatic circumstances on the final day.

Not only has he a finishing kick to rival Paidi O’Brien, but both are good friends and when they rode with Kanturk underage they scooped many All-Ireland titles between them. Murray has been out of the sport since 2007 but he has stage-race pedigree, having taken a stage of Rás nDun na nGall in 2006.

Though the official team launch won’t take place until next month, Storan said that they hope to contend in as many races as they can and with Patsy Crowley managing the squad, they’ll have one of the shrewdest back-up teams around.