Teams from Ireland, Holland and Britain are all bound for Kerry Group Rás Mumhan this weekend. The scene is set for a fierce battle between 190 men over the four stages (Photo: George Doyle)
Beginning this Friday and running over the full Easter Bank Holiday weekend until Monday, Kerry Group Rás Mumhan looks set to produce great racing.
Some of the strongest riders in the country are on the start list. And they will go up against squads from the UK and Holland for the 2018 title.
There are 26 categorised climbs over 500km, with €7,000 in prizes to be won.
Stage 1. Fri, March 30: Killorglin-Sliabh Luachra-Killorglin
This is the eight consecutive year to go to the Sliabh Luachra region of East Kerry. The Rás will start in Killorglin, taking the riders to Killarney, on to Kilcummin, Scartaglin, Castleisland, Currans, Ballyfinnane , Firies, Milltown and finishing in Killorglin; a total of 100km with three climbs.
Advertisement
Related News
Stage 2. Sat March 31: North Kerry & West Limerick
This will be a big day for cycling in North Kerry & West Limerick. The race will leave Listowel at 11am. The 130km route will have changes from last year. It will take the riders to Ballylongford, Tarbert, Glin, Athea, Carrigkerry, Ardagh, Ballyhahill and back to Glin again. The racing will then go on to Athea and Carrigkerry again; before going on to a smaller loop that will take the race to Ballyhahill and Glin for the third time and then on to the finish in Athea. There are eight climbs on this stage, with the hill out of Athea three times, including the finish around 2pm. This stage will afford spectators many occasions to see the race at its best.
Stage 3. Sun April 1st: Waterville and Coom an Easpaigh
Valentia Island is on the menu again on this stage, which has an 11.30am start in the south Kerry town of Waterville. The leading riders are expected at the finish back in Waterville at around 3pm. The 155km route includes the only cat 1 of the race, the Coom an Easpaigh. The climb was introduced three years ago after an absence of many years. The stage takes in Ballinskelligs, St Finians Bay, The Glen, Valentia Island, Cahirsiveen, Dromid, and Portmagee on to the cat 1 climb at Coom an Easpaigh, St Finians Bay again. The racing then goes back to Ballinskelligs and on to the finish in Waterville. There are four other climbs along the way including two cat 2 ascents in what is regarded as one of the classic Irish road stages.
Stage 4. Mon April 2nd: Beaufort and Killorglin
The final stage will start at 10am, after three laps of the Killorglin-Beaufort-Killorglin circuit, the riders will go on to the Donal McKenna circuit for nine laps. That will take them up the famous hill in the town centre each time; a total distance of 115km. There is a cat 4 climb at the line each time, except the finish lap. And that will keep the king of the mountains title up for grabs right to the end. The expected finish time is 12.30pm.
Start list Kerry Group Rás Mumhan
1 Sean McKenna Team Ireland Development Squad
2 Conn McDunphy Team Ireland Development Squad
3 Dermot Trulock Team Ireland Development Squad
4 Conor McCann Team Ireland Development Squad
5 Dillon Corkery Team Ireland Development Squad
6 Mark Dowling Leinster
7 Chris Reilly Leinster
8 Conor McKenna Leinster
9 To Be Confirmed Leinster
10 To Be Confirmed Leinster
11 Samuel Woodfield Active Edge Race Team
12 Laurence Kirby Active Edge Race Team
13 Barnabas Purtrock Active Edge Race Team
14 Toby Atkins Active Edge Race Team
15 Thomas Bowering Active Edge Race Team
16 Matthew Garthwaite Rhino Velo Race Team
17 Kirk Vickers Rhino Velo Race Team
18 Oliver Hayward Rhino Velo Race Team
19 Chris Pook Rhino Velo Race Team
20 Liam Holohan Rhino Velo Race Team
21 Chris Macnamara Surrey League Team
22 James Boyman Surrey League Team
23 Joe Hill Surrey League Team
24 Dylan Thomas Surrey League Team
25 Lawrence Carpenter Surrey League Team
26 Will Browne Ribble Pro Cycling
27 David Hewett Ribble Pro Cycling
28 Richard Jones Ribble Pro Cycling
29 Alex Luhrs Ribble Pro Cycling
30 Jack Rees Ribble Pro Cycling
31 Paul Elcock Zero BC
32 Patryk Biel Zero BC
33 Andrew Wilde Zero BC
34 Joe Harris Zero BC
35 Ben Kenneally Zero BC
36 Tim Groot West Frisia
37 Dorus de Rijk West Frisia
38 Joury Otttenbros West Frisia
39 Harry Sweering West Frisia
40 Wouter Been West Frisia
41 Andre Grennell Arcane Cycling Club
42 Darragh Zaidan Arcane Cycling Club
43 Ryan Byrne Arcane Cycling Club
44 Sam Gilmore Arcane Cycling Club
45 Marcus Schmidt Arcane Cycling Club
46 Patrick Clarke Ballina CC
47 Gareth McCormack Ballina CC
48 Elmer Pieterse Ballina CC
49 Damien Creighton Ballina CC
50 Andrew Higgins Ballina CC
51 James O Sullivan Bandon CC
52 Hugh Power Bandon CC
53 Jeremy Canty Bandon CC
54 Dan Bailey Bandon CC
55 Don Keohane Bandon CC
56 Eoin O Connell Blarney CC-Blarney Castle
57 Colm Sheahan Blarney CC-Blarney Castle
58 Michael Considine Blarney CC-Blarney Castle
59 Michael McCarthy Blarney CC-Blarney Castle
60 Michael Crowley Blarney CC-Blarney Castle
61 Kieran Crean Blarney Sportful
62 Don Lapierre Blarney Sportful
63 Mark Nolan Blarney Sportful
64 Owen Mullowney Blarney Sportful
65 Fergal Tubridy Blarney Sportful
66 David Walshe Castlebar CC
67 Charles Prendergast Castlebar CC
68 Chris Coyle Castlebar CC
69 David Brody Castlebar CC
70 David Brennan Castlebar CC
71 Peter Leahy Collins Cycle Centre Racet Team
72 Eddie Brennan Collins Cycle Centre Racet Team
73 P J Collins Collins Cycle Centre Racet Team
74 Mike Brown Collins Cycle Centre Racet Team
75 Armuinas Meskauskas Collins Cycle Centre Race Team
76 John Aherne De Ronde Van Cork
77 Shane Fuller De Ronde Van Cork
78 Ciaran Moore De Ronde Van Cork
79 Edwin Sutton De Ronde Van Cork
80 AJ Murphy De Ronde Van Cork
81 Craig Longmore Dublin Blanco
82 Tiit Talumaa Dublin Blanco
83 Timothy Duffy Dublin Blanco
84 Peter McColgan Dublin Blanco
85 Marcus Dowling Dublin Blanco
86 Vincent Gleeson Greenmount Cycling Academy
87 Ronan Costello Greenmount Cycling Academy
88 Adrian Kirby Greenmount Cycling Academy
89 James O Connor Greenmount Cycling Academy
90 Kieran McCarthy Greenmount Cycling Academy
91 Bryan Geary Joe Daly Orwell
92 Odhran Connors Joe Daly Orwell
93 Bernard English Joe Daly Orwell
94 Graham Scanlonn Joe Daly Orwell
95 Manuel Fontan Gracia Joe Daly Orwell
96 Richard Maes Killarney Cycling Club
97 Marcus Treacy Killarney Cycling Club
98 John Brosnan Killarney Cycling Club
99 Conor Kissane Killarney Cycling Club
100 Patrick Clifford Killarney Cycling Club
101 David Coughlan Killarney Park Hotel
102 Anthony Doyle Killarney Park Hotel
103 Michael Lucey Killarney Park Hotel
104 Paul Norton Killarney Park Hotel
105 Mark Quigley Killarney Park Hotel
106 Stuart Cox Longford Cycling Club
107 Shane Quinn Longford Cycling Club
108 David Casserly Longford Cycling Club
109 John Fitzpatrick Longford Cycling Club
110 Sean Cosgrove Longford Cycling Club
111 Ross Grogan Cambell Lucan Cycling Road Club
112 Andrew Keogh Lucan Cycling Road Club
113 Ronan Killeen Lucan Cycling Road Club
114 John McGettigan Lucan Cycling Road Club
115 Sean Flynn Lucan Cycling Road Club
116 Paul Kennedy Newcastle West CC
117 Bobby Coleman Newcastle West CC
118 Aaron O Brien Newcastle West CC
119 John Cahill Newcastle West CC
120 Declan McCarthy Newcastle West CC
121 Jamie Blanchfield Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
122 Cathal Purcell Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
123 Matthew Sparrow Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
124 Ray Cullen Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
125 John Hodge Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
126 Ronan McLaughlin Planetx/Carnac
127 Sean Hahessey Planetx/Carnac
128 Aaron Kearney Planetx/Carnac
129 Keith Fox Planetx/Carnac
130 Dylan Foley Planetx/Carnac
131 Jamie Busher Scott - Orwell Wheelers
132 Ronan O Flynn Scott - Orwell Wheelers
133 Freddie Stevens Scott - Orwell Wheelers
134 Eoin Ahern Scott - Orwell Wheelers
135 Neal Hudson Scott - Orwell Wheelers
136 Denis Lynch Sliebh Luachra CC
137 Richard Cleverly Sliabh Luachra CC
138 tbc Sliabh Luachra CC
139 John O Sullivan Sliabh Luachra CC
140 Eugene Moriarty Sliabh Luachra CC
141 Michael Fitzgerald Strata3-Velorevolution Cycling Team
142 Philip Lavery Strata3-Velorevolution Cycling Team
143 James Davenport Strata3-Velorevolution Cycling Team
144 Simon Ryan Strata3-Velorevolution Cycling Team
145 Stephen Murray Strata3-Velorevolution Cycling Team
146 James Quinn St Tiernans Cycling Club
147 Adam Greally St Tiernans Cycling Club
148 John O Regan St Tiernans Cycling Club
149 Niko Harmanen St Tiernans Cycling Club
150 Kieran Ryan St Tiernans Cycling Club
151 Paidi O Brien Team Gerard/DHL
152 Reese Young Team Gerard/DHL
153 tbc Team Gerard/DHL
154 Sean Moore Team Gerard/DHL
155 Cian Sutcliffe Team Gerard/DHL
156 Alan Cawley Team Gerry McVeigh Cars
157 Matthew McCullagh Team Gerry McVeigh Cars
158 Ciaran Murphy Team Gerry McVeigh Cars
159 Richard Gribbons Team Gerry McVeigh Cars
160 Declan Shevlin Team Gerry McVeigh Cars
161 Sean Lacey Viner/Caremark/Pactimo
162 Matteo Cigala Viner/Caremark/Pactimo
163 Conor Hennebry Viner/Caremark/Pactimo
164 Luke Smith Viner/Caremark/Pactimo
165 Ronan Twomey Viner/Caremark/Pactimo
166 Cathal Moynihan Tralee Manor West
167 Cormac Daly Tralee Manor West
168 Cian Smailes Tralee Manor West
169 Ciaran Slattery Tralee Manor West
170 David O Sullivan Tralee Manor West
171 Conor Murnane UCD Fitz Cycles
172 Robert O Leary UCD Fitz Cycles
173 Nathan McGreehan UCD Fitz Cycles
174 Ioannis Kyriakidis UCD Fitz Cycles
175 Joel Luke UCD Fitz Cycles
176 Matthew Clark Geraghty's-Cora Droma Rúisc
177 Mike Ewing Geraghty's-Cora Droma Rúisc
178 James Jobber Geraghty's-Cora Droma Rúisc
179 Louis Lord Geraghty's-Cora Droma Rúisc
180 Nigel MacAodha Geraghty's-Cora Droma Rúisc
181 Richard Meaney Westport Covey Wheelers
182 Jason O Callaghan Westport Covey Wheelers
183 James McGreevy Westport Covey Wheelers
184 Sean O Malley Westport Covey Wheelers
185 Joe Moran Westport Covey Wheelers
186 Aidan Crowley 010.ie ZeroOneZero
187 Darren Allison 010.ie ZeroOneZero
188 Daniel Brenan 010.ie ZeroOneZero
189 Matthew Kennedy 010.ie ZeroOneZero
190 Clinton O Mahony 010.ie ZeroOneZero
Topics
