There’s no shortage of quality riders in the 110-rider start-list for this year’s Tour of the North which kicks off on Easter Saturday. Fraser Duncan, above, claimed an incredible three stage wins in last year’s race (Photo: Marian Lamb - Cycling Ulster)
The start-list for the Tour of the North has just been announced with a top quality field of 110 riders from home and abroad set to take to the roads of Northern Ireland over the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend.
Though that number may seem small compared to the bumper 200+ rider fields set to convene at both Rás Mumhan and the Gorey Three-Day, it’s the permitted quota as set out by the PSNI and can make for much harder racing.
The race is once again under the stewardship of race director Joan McCullough (Ballymena CC) and features four stages over three days, all starting and finishing in Ballymena.
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The first stage is a 104-kilometre run in the Glens of Antrim with four king of the hills primes.
They’re categorised as follows; cat 2, 1, 3 and 1. The four ascents on the opening stage means there may be big splits early on.
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The foreign teams always add an edge to the Tour of the North, but the home riders have a habit of dominating.
Easter Sunday begins with a 6.4-kilometre individual time trial in the morning which should see a further sort out of the general classification.
The afternoon stage 3 is a 100-kilometre race based on a 17.7 kilometre circuit between Ballymena and Randalstown.
There are three cat 3climb on laps one and three while there’s a category two pinch at Roguery after 92-kilometres.
The final stage on Easter Monday is the longest of the weekend at 113 kilometres.
It takes the riders on a loop around Derry and includes two major climbs at Springwell, a cat 2 after 53 kilometres, and the cat 1 Cam Forest after 66 kilometres.
We'll have a full preview of the race and its top contenders closer to the event.
Tour of the North start-list
| Ryan Reily | Amicale Cycliste Bisontine |
| Christopher McGlinchey | Ballymena RC |
| Clifford Grant | Ballymena RC |
| Hall Booth | Ballymena RC |
| Matthew Brennan | Ballymena RC |
| Ryan Bankhead | Ballymena RC |
| Mervyn Linton | Ballymoney CC |
| Niall O'Hagan | Ballymoney CC |
| Stephen McCallister | Ballymoney CC |
| Stuart Laverty | Ballymoney CC |
| Uel Cunningham | Ballymoney CC |
| Cameron McIntyre | Banbridge CC |
| Gareth McKee | Banbridge CC |
| James Curry | Banbridge CC |
| Lindsay Watson | Banbridge CC |
| Mark Downey | Banbridge CC |
| Angus Fyffe | Belgian Project |
| Craig Rea | Belgian Project |
| Darragh Zaidan | Belgian Project |
| Gary Donaldson | Belgian Project |
| Luke Hylands | Belgian Project |
| Conor Murphy | Caldwell Cycles |
| Craig McAuley | Caldwell Cycles |
| Darnell Moore | Caldwell Cycles |
| Paul Mulligan | Caldwell Cycles |
| Thomas Martin | Caldwell Cycles |
| Barry Russell | Carn Wheelers |
| Joe McCrory | Carn Wheelers |
| Jonathan Taylor | Carn Wheelers |
| Mark Heaney | Carn Wheelers |
| Nicky Gormley | Carn Wheelers |
| Aaron Parks | Cookstown Cycling Team |
| Alastair Steele | Cookstown Cycling Team |
| Andrew Reid | Cookstown Cycling Team |
| John McGlaughlin | Cookstown Cycling Team |
| Phil Bremner | Cookstown Cycling Team |
| James Pittam | Cork Giant Team |
| Ryan O'Donovan | Cork Giant Team |
| Colm McCaughley | Cuchullainn CC |
| Gerry McCabe | Cuchullainn CC |
| Myles McCorry | Cuchullainn CC |
| Niall Clarke | Cuchullainn CC |
| Ray O'Shaugnessey | Cuchullainn CC |
| Philip Belshaw | Danny Shane - Storck Racing |
| Craig A McCulloch | East Kilbride RC |
| Gary Davidson TBC | East Kilbride RC |
| Stephen Roe | East Kilbride RC |
| Stuart Munro | East Kilbride RC |
| Andrew Gregg | Kinning Cycles |
| Andrew McCullough | Kinning Cycles |
| Glenn Kinning | Kinning Cycles |
| Owen Jeffries | Kinning Cycles |
| Adrien Le Mevel | La Roche sur Yon Vendee Cyclisme |
| Baptiste Chavet | La Roche sur Yon Vendee Cyclisme |
| Clement Ricard | La Roche sur Yon Vendee Cyclisme |
| Francy Grelier | La Roche sur Yon Vendee Cyclisme |
| Frederic Bertrand | La Roche sur Yon Vendee Cyclisme |
| Mark Nicholls | Lucan CRC |
| Michael Leonard | Lucan CRC |
| Ross Grogan | Lucan CRC |
| Stuart Scott | Madigan CC |
| Andrew Bye | Newry Wheelers |
| Des Woods | Newry Wheelers |
| Gareth mcCullough | Newry Wheelers |
| Jude Sands | Newry Wheelers |
| Sean Featherstone | Newry Wheelers |
| William Larmour | North Down CC |
| Barry Hamilton | North Down CC |
| David Hamilton | North Down CC |
| David Watson | North Down CC |
| James Ambrose | North Down CC |
| Brian Stewart | Phoenix CC |
| Fergus Rooney | Phoenix CC |
| Karl Morgan | Phoenix CC |
| Mike Millar | Phoenix CC |
| Stephen Harkens | Phoenix CC |
| Andrew Whitehall | Pro Vision Race Team |
| Ben Joughin | Pro Vision Race Team |
| David Griffiths | Pro Vision Race Team |
| Rob Friel | Pro Vision Race Team |
| Rory Maguire | Pro Vision Race Team |
| Chris Dredge | Spirit Bikes |
| Jake Hales | Spirit Bikes |
| Jack Waller | Spirit Bikes |
| Ed Clemens | Spirit Bikes |
| Cameron Woolsley | Spirit Bikes |
| Ben Forsythe | Spokes Racing Team |
| Fraser Martin | Spokes Racing Team |
| Lewis Grieve | Spokes Racing Team |
| Rian Hill | Spokes Racing Team |
| Sean Noon | Spokes Racing Team |
| Colin Robinson | Stamullen MD/Shippin |
| Colm Laverty | Stamullen MD/Shippin |
| Craig Sweetman | Stamullen MD/Shippin |
| Cian Delaney | Stamullen MD/Shipping |
| Bryan McCrystal | Team Asea |
| Eoghan Clifford | Team Asea |
| Eva McCrystal | Team Asea |
| Neill Delahay | Team Asea |
| Owen Martin | Team Asea |
| Alastair Robinson | Team Bike Express |
| Enda Connolly | Team Bikeworks |
| Ken Tobin | Team Bikeworks |
| Neil O'Leary | Team Bikeworks |
| Sean Reynolds | Team Bikeworks |
| Stephen Helpin | Team Bikeworks |
| Gary Shields | Velo Cafe Magasin |
| Joe Henry | Velo Cafe Magasin |
| Mark Millar | Velo Cafe Magasin |
| Neville O'Neill | Velo Cafe Magasin |
| Bob Vervloet | WTOS - Delft |
| Gael Tack | WTOS - Delft |
| Arian Stolwijk | WTOS - Delft |
| Thijs Nijvelct | WTOS - Delft |
| Tim Foppin | WTOS - Delft |
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