Ryan Sherlock, pictured here at Ras Mumhan, goes to the line in Connacht as hot favourite (Photo: Pat Doherty)
By Brian Canty
The Tour of Connacht takes centre stage this weekend in Castlebar, Co Mayo, as riders up their preparations for the Suir Valley Three-Day stage race the following weekend.
Promoting club, Castlebar CC have done a tremendous job in re-inventing the race which was formerly known as Rás Connachta and a large field is expected to descend on the town for the two-day, three-stage race.
The race is open to A1, A2 and A3 riders as well as juniors and features two 100 kilometre stages as well as a nine kilometre time-trial on Sunday morning.
Saturday’s opening stage is a difficult one. From Castlebar, the race heads in the direction of Laherdaune, Crossmolina, back towards Castlebar, Bofeenaun before finishing up the Windy Gap.
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That summit finish has proven decisive in the past and on such open and exposed roads it’s a stage that could see many riders out of contention before Sunday’s time-trial even starts.
The race starts at 3.30pm and the first riders are expected on the Windy Gap around 5.40pm.
Ciarán Clarke from Castlebar should be in the running for stage honours here as he’s a useful climber while Charles Prendergast’s pedigree is well documented and having ridden the Junior Tour on these roads two years ago he’ll know what to expect.
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Sunday’s time-trial is just over five miles (9km) and riders will start in race number order from 9am, starting at Moran’s Garage on the Pontoon Road and coming back into Castlebar.
The final stage is on Sunday afternoon, rolling out from the car park on the Newport road at 1.30pm and is a lumpy route again with another hilltop finish.
The big favourite is Ryan Sherlock who narrowly missed out on winning Rás Mumhan back in April but achieved some compensation when he blitzed the Bog Week Two-Day in preparation for the An Post Rás and later the Mullingar Two Day, as well as a host of other wins.
The time-trial will obviously play to his strengths having performed well in the elite national championships last month in the same discipline so it’s hard to look beyond him for the overall win.
Another who will be a big contender is former An Post-Sean Kelly professional David O’Loughlin who is now ‘retired’ but rode the Mayo county championships recently and performed well while his protégé, Charles Prendergast is the other obvious favourite for the overall.
Stephen O’Sullivan of DID Dunboyne has vowed to attend and having already won The Tour of Ulster and Rás Mumhan in a glittering career, The Tour of Connacht is one of the few omissions in his impressive palmares.
There also promises to be a strong Connacht contingent, with teams from Castlebar CC, Western Lakes CC, Galway Bay CC, Eire Og CC, Seven Springs and Donamon all keen to keep the yellow jersey in its home province.
Route information, stage details, accommodation listings and entry forms are available on http://www.connachtcycling.com/#/tour-of-connacht-2012/4566587438 For further information please contact John Brennan at [email protected] or David Brennan at [email protected]
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