Philip Deignan after finishing 3rd on the mountain stage of the Tour of California last month. He'll be looking for more success in Canada in the coming days while Matt Brammeier will be hunting on the flatter stages. Anthony Walsh is coming back from a broken collarbone-related lay off and will look to build his form for the second half of the season. Philip Lavery has secured an invite to ride with the H&R Block team and will be seeking to fine tune his form for the Nationals the weekend after next.
By Graham Healy
Three Irishmen will line up at the Tour de Beauce (UCI 2.2) which starts in Quebec in Canada tomorrow, Tuesday.
Philip Deignan (Unitedhealthcare) has returned to North America after a break at home, and he will join Matt Brammeier (Champion System) and Anthony Walsh (Astellas Oncology Cycling Team) at the start line.
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French-based Philip Lavery has secured an invite to ride for the H&R Block team. He will be looking for any opportunity he can take, as well as fine tuning his form for the National Championships where he was third last year and took the U23 title.
Tomorrow’s stage has two categorized climbs, but the second of them is 40 kilometres from the finish, so it will give dropped riders an opportunity to get back to the bunch. Wednesday’s stage is also hilly, but it’s the third stage that may be decisive in the battle for overall honours.
The stage concludes with a summit finish to Mont-Mégantic, and based on Deignan’s climbing form so far this season, it may offer him his best opportunity for a stage win.
Friday will see the riders face a 20-kilometre hilly time-trial and Saturday’s penultimate stage could also be difficult as the lap in the centre of Québec City which the riders will have to negotiate 12 times features a 10 per cent climb.
Despite being aggressive since the start of the season, Brammeier is still chasing his first win this year, and the Tour de Beauce may offer him his best chance yet, as most of the races he has been in this season have had stronger fields.
Also hoping to perform well will be former UCD CC rider, Anthony Walsh. He tasted victory in Canada last year when he won the Ontario Cup, which helped to grab the attention of the Astellas team.
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Unfortunately for the Dubliner, he had a bad start to the season when he crashed in the Delray Beach Twilight Criterium in March and broke his collarbone. He was only able to return to racing again in the An Post Rás last month.
Lavery has been in very good form this year, taking a series of wins in his new base in France and he will be out to do a good ride in Canada before coming home with the others for the Nationals, where he will be a contender for the title.
Both Deignan and Brammeier will also be amongst the favourites for those forthcoming National Championships in Carlingford, where Brammeier will be striving to win the title for an unprecedented fourth time.
@Healycycles
Graham Healy has just had his new book published, "The Curse of the Rainbow Jersey" (by Breakaway Books)
(Click on the cover image below to purchase online, also available in bookshops)
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