NFTO came to the An Post Rás last year and took a stage win through Ian Bibby (above) and fourth overall through Rob Partridge. The UK-based squad are back again this year, as are fellow Continental team Madison-Genesis. (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
By Brian Canty
Two of the strongest teams on the UK racing scene have named strong squads for the An Post Rás which gets underway in just over a month.
The Continental-ranked NFTO and Madison Genesis teams are no strangers to the race having both fared very well last year.
Former Team Sky rider Josh Edmondson will spearhead the NFTO challenge for general classification and after finishing second to Clemens Fankheuser in 2015 he’ll be keen to go one better this time around.
He raced with the Irish An Post Chain Reaction Sean Kelly squad last season and later won the general classification in the Ronde de l'Oise plus a stage of the Tour of Azerbaijan.
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He will be joined by Rás veteran Rob Partridge, who led the king of the mountains classification for several days in 2015 and finished fourth overall.
Completing the line-up are Liam Stones and Alex Harvey, as well as recent Noel Jones road race winner George Fowler.
Similarly, Madison Genesis have a very robust squad of men with experience of racing in Ireland.
Erick Rowsell and Matt Holmes will lead the team’s assault overall; the latter a certainty to be up there after a superb eighth overall in the 2015 Tour de Yorkshire.
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Holmes won the general classification at the Totnes Vire Two-Day race recently and went close to winning a stage of the race last year on the penultimate day.
Also on the team is the Kiwi Taylor Gunman, winner of the 2015 Oceania Continental Championships and the New Zealand Cycle Classic.
Former British national junior road race champion Tristan Robbins and former national junior time trial champion Joe Evans will also take on the Irish event with Madison-Genesis.
Both teams will use the upcoming Tour of Yorkshire to fine-tune their preparations for the Irish stage race.
The two latest announcements bring the number of confirmed international squads up to 10.
Those announced thus far are squads from Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the US.
Several more foreign teams will be confirmed prior to next month’s event.
This year’s An Post Rás will total almost 1,233 kilometres, and will include 25 categorised climbs.
The race will roll out from Dublin Castle on Sunday May 22nd, with the venue chosen to mark the 2016 Easter Rising commemorations.
The UCI-ranked event will feature stage finishes in Multyfarnham, Charleville, Dingle, Sneem, Clonakilty, Dungarvan and Baltinglass before concluding in Skerries on May 29th.
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