Irish riders can still win the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan but only a relatively small number have featured in the top 10 overall in recent years. Damien Shaw (above) won last year; but there are others who can do a lot of damage (Photo: Pat Doherty)
Only two Irish riders finished in the top 10 overall at Kerry Group Rás Mumhan last year; Aquablue team mates Damien Shaw and Timmy Barry, who were 1st and 6th respectively.
There were five Irish in the top 10 the year before and four in 2011 and 2010, suggesting that maybe the race is getting harder for domestic amateurs. Here, we profile some who can make the top 10.
Damien Shaw
The defending champion is an awesome talent and what he did on stage three last year when he rode across to the break after coming off Valentia Island was truly phenomenal.
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Though he didn’t win the stage, he didn’t need to, and was more focused on driving the break to gain as much time as he could.
He has won the Lacey Cup and the Cycleways Cup already this year as well as last Sunday's Visit Nenagh Classic.
And had he raced more, he’d probably have won more too. But a stint in Spain training and work commitments denying him a cut off the Des Hanlon reduced his competitive outings.
Shaw claims he’s stronger than ever and having won bronze at the National Road Race Championships last year, it will take a lot to stop him again this weekend in Kerry. But no rider has ever successfully defended a Kerry Group Rás Mumhan title.
Ryan Sherlock losing yellow on the last stage in 2012; he may take stage or overall victory this year (Photo: Pat Doherty)
Ryan Sherlock
The Monaghan man doesn’t need any reminding that 2012 was the year he had the race in his grasp following some truly swashbuckling performances on the Saturday and Sunday stages around Dingle and Waterville.
Though he didn’t win either stage - Mark Dowling cleverly nicked one off him on the Saturday - he did enough to take the yellow jersey into the final day but lost it in agonising fashion when a three-man break slipped away and in it was Dennis Bakker, who overhauled him to take the win by just 11 seconds.
Sherlock will have learnt an awful lot from that experience. And combined with his frightening power on the climbs, he can definitely win a stage and maybe the overall.
He’ll love the look of Saturday’s 144 kilometre tough challenge which features seven climbs and if his form from the Des Hanlon is still there, he’ll be one to keep a close eye on.
Bryan McCrystal
What the Dundalk man did to the best riders in the country in Carlow three weeks ago has only served to underline what an amazing talent Bryan McCrytsal is and a race like Rás Mumhan is made for him.
He has no form at the race to go by, having never ridden it before. But in last year’s An Post Rás he was one of the stars of the show from a domestic point of view.
He won a county rider prize in his debut Rás; something very few have done. Cut from the same cloth as his team mate Shaw, they’ll be a match for anyone.
McCrystal is also a member of the Paracycling squad and assuming he has had a rest after last week's World Track Championships, he should be motoring this weekend, having attended a number of foreign training camps before that meeting which should have added to his already mint condition.
The transition from track to road can be tough; but seeing as his stint with the Paracycling set-up was brief, he should not struggle too much. He obviously has the same strong team as Shaw, but among them Sean Lacey has won the most and he can outshine Shaw and McCrystal this weekend.
Paidi O'Brien always wins races and his ride in the Des Hanlon suggests he's in perhaps the best form he's had in the past few years; he can win any of the stages and the overall if it all went well (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
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Paidi O’Brien
The most feared sprinter in the domestic peloton, O’Brien is hugely consistent and has been since his returned from the Continent a few seasons back following a prolonged stint with An Post-Sean Kelly.
Last year he won one of the hardest stages of the race in recent memory; that freezing day around Waterville was a real shocker to anyone who rode it, but O’Brien’s win was class.
He’s usually up there on days one and four but if he can do a good ride on either Saturday or Sunday, he’ll definitely be in with a shout at the overall. His second place in the Des Hanlon was a very big result; taking flight with Sherlock and catching all the breakaway apart from winner McCrystal. That ride shows his climbing is one of the best in the country right now.
He also has the backing of a strong team in Denis Lynch, Owen Cummins, Richard Hooton, Martin Cashman and Michael Crowley.
Greg Swinand
The national vets time-trial champion, who will be 47 this month, has a ferocious engine and is showing no signs of slowing down.
This year, in the colours of UCD CC, he has been in stunning form, taking the Newbridge GP and second in the Boyne GP after a near race-long escape with eventual winner Ryan Sherlock.
He also won in Stamullen last Sunday to illustrate he's where he needs to be. He has also been on the podium and placed in several other races and with the help of a very strong team, he is a real contender for a stage win and a high placing.
After his win in Newbridge he said the Aquablue team were “head and shoulders above our guys and we will be hard pressed to beat them this year, but I think we have a few more guys than they do, so we’ve got use our numbers”. Expect him - and his team - to be very active this weekend.
Anthony Walsh is missing a big win so far in 2014; this could be the weekend (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
Anthony Walsh
The Clontarf man has been one of the main animators of the events he has ridden so far this season and a string of podium finishes has him in second (behind Fraser Duncan) in the latest Cycling Ireland rankings.
Walsh has raced in Canada and France in recent years but has been plagued by a series of crashes, suffering broken bones in a number of those spills.
He came close to quitting the bike over the winter months but decided to move home from Canada to race again with UCD CC in Ireland and is going well so far.
He opened his season at the Lacey Cup in Tralee in mid February where he was third behind an Aquablue 1-2 of Damian Shaw and Dylan Foley.
Since then he has taken 2nd place in the Mick Lally Memorial, the Cycleways Cup and the Newbridge GP, as well as filling some of the minor placings in other events.
He was 17th overall at Rás Mumhan in 2011 and with the help of Eoin Morton, Joseph Breheny, Con Collis, Colm Cassidy and Swinand, they’ll be a formidable force.
Paddy Clarke is very capable of doing a great ride in Kerry this weekend on the basis of his form so far this season.
Paddy Clarke
Currently fourth in the Cycling Ireland rankings the Ballina man, who was ninth in the National Championships last year, has been in excellent form this year. He soloed to a fine win in the Loughrea GP in February before notching a host of other top 10 finishes in the interim.
Perhaps most impressively of all was his fourth place at the Des Hanlon memorial Classic where he rode in the break all day and was the last man left to challenge the imperious Bryan McCrystal before eventually fading.
Clarke, who spent four years as a full-time rider, also notched an excellent seventh in the Cycleways Cup in early March, despite being outnumbered by the Aquablue, UCD CC and Caldwell Cycles teams.
He loves to attack and can sprint very well, he could be a dark horse for a high overall placing.
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