Eoin Morton on the front of the UCD-FitzCycles.ie train last year defending his Tour of Ulster leader's jersey. He would go on to win. But he is no longer racing so a new champion will definitely be claimed this weekend.
Victus Tour of Ulster 2018 start list and preview
With three stages over testing terrain, the Tour of Ulster is always a challenge. Many a man has gone to the event to prepare for the Rás only to back out of that event in May after a poor ‘Ulster’ ride.
And given the field assembled this year, anyone starting the Victus Tour of Ulster this weekend, with even modest ambitions, needs to be on their toes.
There are some very strong British riders over for the weekend. And some up and coming young Irish riders are home from Continental Europe for the race.
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But without fear of exaggeration; the start list is one of the best - if not the very best - we'll see for a domestic race this year.
It is packed with the riders who have dominated the Irish road race scene this season and in recent years.
Looking down through the field, there are several teams who have the riders who can win this race.
And given the strength in depth, one thing is clear; there will be no fluke winner of the final pink jersey.
The Strata 3-VeloRevolution and Caldwell Cycles teams are literally filled with potential stage winners.
Caldwell Cycles is bringing Adam Armstrong, Darnell Moore, Craig McAuley, Angus Fyffe and Mark McClure.
For Strata 3-VeloRevolution, Simon Ryan won a stage last year. This time around he is joined by an extremely strong quartet; Philip Lavery, James Davenport, Stephen Murray and Michéal Fitzgerald.
The men to beat are probably Viner-Caremark-Pactimo. Conor Hennebry won this race two years ago and claimed Rás Mumhan at Easter.
But all of the others on the team can excel too. They are Matteo Cigala, Ronan McLaughlin, Aaron Kearney and Craig Rea.
The U23 international Jake Gray is back from France with a VC Toucy selection that the Irish riders will mark closely.
Banbridge CC, ever-present on the winner's podium year after year has assembled a very good team.
In its ranks is Gareth McKee; perhaps with a point to prove considering what looked like his strange omission from the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games team.
Roger Aiken is are John Buller, Kevin McKinney and international tested Marcus Christie; a formidable combination.
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Blarney CC's Eoin O'Connell and Paul Kennedy are both capable of a stage win and general classification ride.
Charlie Prendergast (Burren CC) has been flying of late; winning the Deenside Cup and Castlebar GP. And he can do serious damage this weekend.
Meanwhile, U23 international Marc Heaney (Carn Wheelers) is home from Belgium and will be looking to show his form. He is a young rider due a big win.
The Cycling Leinster team is strong throughout. And if it got the leader's jersey it would pose real danger.
The selection is comprised of Mark Dowling, Christopher Reilly, Shane Smith, Cian Delaney and Cillian Whelan.
The stand out names in the Donegal Bay CC team are Darragh McCarter and Marc Potts; both winners already on the home scene this year.
Potts was in the Commonwealth Games team and the last time he took to a week of domestic race, in March, he won three races in as many days. Also in the team is Aaron McBride, a recent winner of the Carn Classic.
Holdsworth Pro Cycling has just three riders in the race, though they are all very strong men.
Damien Shaw is the former national champion, Conn McDunphy is an U23 international and won in Mondello on Tuesday night.
And completing the team is Leon Mazzone; an Isle of Man rider who has excelled in Ireland in the past at Rás Mumhan and the Suir Valley Three Day.
Ethan Downey of Inishowen Donegal was Irish junior champion last year and is one to watch, as are Richard Maes and Conor Kissane of Killarney.
Newry Wheelers has drafted in Ben Joughlin, the British rider who rode so well at the Tour of the North. He is joined by a very capable team that includes potential stage winner Conor McCann.
And Javan Nulty of North Down CC will also be on the hunt for a stage, as will Jody Wright of Phoenix CC after some strong rides of late.
Lindsay Watson of Powerhouse Sport is a potential winner of this race; one of the men of the season so far and excellent at the Tour of the North.
From Britain, the Rhino Velo team, which rode very well at Rás Mumhan is back. It brings former Team Wiggins rider Liam Holohan as well as Matthew Garthwaite, Kirk Vickers and Oliver Hayward.
The St Pirian team, from Cornwall with Irish rider Cameron Jeffers, is bringing its likely Rás team. It will be looking to do a ride with via Joe Evans, the planned team leader for the Rás.
Others who can make their mark include Dillon Corkery (Team Gerard-DHL), Jamie Blanchfield (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) and Gary Donaldson (Tyrone).
May 5-7: Tour of Ulster 2018
Sponsored by Victus
Rider Start List
1 Antoine Le Corre UCD Cycling Club
2 Conor McKenna UCD Cycling Club
3 David Coyle UCD Cycling Club
4 Liam Clarke UCD Cycling Club
5 TBC UCD Cycling Club
6 Gareth McKee Banbridge CC
7 Roger Aiken Banbridge CC
8 John Buller Banbridge CC
9 Kevin McKinney Banbridge CC
10 Marcus Christie Banbridge CC
11 Darragh Zaidan Bicycle Design Centre
12 Andre Grennell Bicycle Design Centre
13 Ryan Sherlock Bicycle Design Centre
14 David Montgomery Bicycle Design Centre
15 Eoin O'Connell Blarney CC
16 Paul Kennedy Blarney CC
17 Colm Sheahan Blarney CC
18 Michael Crowley Blarney CC
19 Michael McCarthy Blarney CC
20 Mark Shannon Burren CC
21 Brendan Talty Burren CC
22 Simon Kelly Burren CC
23 Jarleth Hasset Burren CC
24 Charles Prendergast Burren CC
25 Ali Gribbon Carn Wheelers Derry
26 Johnny Taylor Carn Wheelers Derry
27 Marc Heaney Carn Wheelers Derry
28 David Hamilton Carn Wheelers Derry
29 Mark Dowling Cycling Leinster
30 Christopher Reilly Cycling Leinster
31 Shane Smith Cycling Leinster
32 Cian Delaney Cycling Leinster
33 Cillian Whelan Cycling Leinster
34 Caolem McCarter Donegal Bay CC
35 Darragh McCarter Donegal Bay CC
36 Paul McCarter Donegal Bay CC
37 Marc Potts Donegal Bay CC
38 Aaron McBride Donegal Bay CC
39 Damien Shaw Holdsworth Pro Racing
40 Conn McDunphy Holdsworth Pro Racing
41 Leon Mazzone Holdsworth Pro Racing
42 Ethan Downey Inishowen Donegal
43 Rory Devlin Inishowen Donegal
44 Rodney Orr Inishowen Donegal
45 Mitchell McLaughlin Inishowen Donegal
46 Marcus Treacy Killarney Cycling Club
47 Richard Maes Killarney Cycling Club
48 Conor Kissane Killarney Cycling Club
49 John Brosnan Killarney Cycling Club
50 Tim O'Regan Killarney Cycling Club
51 Ronan Killeen Lucan Cycling Road Club
52 Ross Grogan Campbell Lucan Cycling Road Club
53 Andrew Keogh Lucan Cycling Road Club
54 Sean Flynn Lucan Cycling Road Club
55 John McGettigan Lucan Cycling Road Club
56 Des Woods Newry Wheelers
57 Conor McCann Newry Wheelers
58 Gareth O Neill Newry Wheelers
59 Ben Joughlin Newry Wheelers
60 Mark McKinley Newry Wheelers
61 Javan Nulty North Down CC
62 Keith Phillips North Down CC
63 Stuart Henry North Down CC
64 Andrew Chivers North Down CC
65 Timmy Burns North Down CC
66 Jamie Blanchfield Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
67 Ray Cullen Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
68 Marcus Flavin Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
69 Cathal Purcell Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
70 Daryl Kearns Panduit Carrick Wheelers CC
71 Greg Swinand Planet X Carnac
72 Keith Fox Planet X Carnac
73 Anthony Walsh Planet X Carnac
74 Jody Wright Phoenix CC
75 Ciaran McVeigh Phoenix CC
76 Donal Shearer Phoenix CC
77 Niall Morris Phoenix CC
78 Lindsay Watson Powerhouse Sport
79 Xeno Young Powerhouse Sport
80 Lee Masters Powerhouse Sport
81 Cian Keogh Powerhouse Sport
82 Liam Holohan Rhino Velo Race Team
83 Matthew Garthwaite Rhino Velo Race Team
84 Kirk Vickers Rhino Velo Race Team
85 Oliver Hayward Rhino Velo Race Team
86 Odhran Connors Scott-Orwell Wheelers
87 Eoin Ahern Scott-Orwell Wheelers
88 Graham Scanlon Scott-Orwell Wheelers
89 Manuel Fontan Garcia Scott-Orwell Wheelers
90 Neal Hudson Scott-Orwell Wheelers
91 Jake Alderman St Pirian
92 Joe Evans St Pirian
93 William Harper St Pirian
94 Cameron Jeffers St Pirian
95 Oli Maxwell St Pirian
96 James Quinn St Tiernans Cycling Club
97 Adam Greally St Tiernans Cycling Club
98 Niko Harmanen St Tiernans Cycling Club
99 Kieran Regan St Tiernans Cycling Club
100 Craig Longmore St Tiernans Cycling Club
101 Philip Lavery Strata3-VeloRevolution
102 James Davenport Strata3-VeloRevolution
103 Stephen Murray Strata3-VeloRevolution
104 Simon Ryan Strata3-VeloRevolution
105 Michael Fitzgerald Strata3-VeloRevolution
106 Adam Armstrong Team Caldwell Cycles
107 Darnell Moore Team Caldwell Cycles
108 Craig McAuley Team Caldwell Cycles
109 Angus Fyffe Team Caldwell Cycles
110 Mark McClure Team Caldwell Cycles
111 Dillon Corkery Team Gerard-DHL
112 Sean Moore Team Gerard-DHL
113 Cian Sutcliffe Team Gerard-DHL
114 Cian Dwyer Team Gerard-DHL
115 Jack Caldwell Team Gerard-DHL
116 Toni Ballester Llobera Team Sportactive Racing
117 Paul Vaughan Team Sportactive Racing
118 Christopher Birney Team Sportactive Racing
119 Matteo Cigala Team Viner Caremark Pactimo
120 Conor Hennebry Team Viner Caremark Pactimo
121 Ronan McLaughlin Team Viner Caremark Pactimo
122 Aaron Kearney Team Viner Caremark Pactimo
123 Craig Rea Team Viner Caremark Pactimo
124 Jordan Levasseur VC Toucy
125 Wilfried Canales VC Toucy
126 Jake Gray VC Toucy
127 Scott Auld VC Toucy
128 Siim Kiskonen VC Toucy
129 David Coughlan Team Zippy Racing
130 Michael Lucey Team Zippy Racing
131 Anthony Doyle Team Zippy Racing
132 Ciaran Murphy Team Zippy Racing
133 David Brody Team Zippy Racing
134 Gary Donaldson Team Tyrone
135 Calvin Moore Team Tyrone
136 Sean McIntyre Team Tyrone
137 Brandon Douglas West Down Wheelers
138 Jack Ferguson Dromara CC
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