Irish cycling's showpiece stage race, Rás Tailteann, has been confirmed for this season despite concerns in recent weeks about the financial viability of the event. The race lost An Post has a title sponsor back in 2017 and has been seeking a replacement backer since then.
While it went ahead in 2018, using cash reserves, no event was held in 2019 while the pandemic meant no race would take place in 2020 or 2021. However, it returned in a shortened version - reduced from eight stages to five - last year and without UCI ranking.
Race director, Ger Campbell, last month told stickybottle there were some doubts about this year's edition because of the financial situation, suggesting there was about a 10 per cent chance it would not proceed. However, thankfully now that is not the case with the stage routes and dates all set.
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Those details are due to be publicly announced next week, thus confirming the Rás will definitely be back on the roads of Ireland this year. It is expected it will be held slightly earlier than last year's June slot, with May 17th to 21st the expected dates this year. However, that is subject to conformation next week when the race details are unveiled.
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Campbell stressed even though publicity around the 2023 edition was being released next week, both he and his organising committee - Cáirde Rás Tailteann - were still seeking sponsors. Last year, and in 2019, the race had a number of secondary backers, though that financial support was still a long way off the sums An Post invested in the race as title sponsors.
Last month Campbell told stickybottle that some of the traditional revenue streams - sponsorships, entry fees and money from host towns - would once again help run the event in 2023.
However, a once-off sum provided by Cycling Ireland last year will not be repeated. Campbell said all involved knew last year's funding from Cycling Ireland was a once-off, adding a small sum would still be available this year, through a new race promoters' fund.
After the race was not held in 2019, the new Cáirde Rás Tailteann group took temporary charge of organising the event, in its new shorter format and without UCI ranking. It planned to press ahead with an event in 2020 and 2021 until the pandemic intervened and grounded those plans.
The 2022 race was the comeback edition and was won overall by Roscommon's Daire Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution). Irish riders Matthew Ward (Cycling Ulster), Adam Ward (Team Ireland), Rory Townsend (Team Ireland) and Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing) all won stages.
