With just one day to go before the start of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan, we profile the 10 Irish riders we think will do the most damage this weekend, photo by George Doyle.
With five former winners on the start list of 200+ riders and a large overseas contingent travelling for the event; once again it’s a race we expect to go right down to the wire.
It features two long hilly stages sandwiched by two shorter, flatter days. In all, the riders will race over 500 kilometres.
The organisers have asked stickybottle to inform riders and officials that the stage road books and the manager's race book are only available online this year; you can access them by clicking here.
Here are the men we think will push for the coveted yellow jersey.
Advertisement
Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne)
The reigning champion recently told stickybottle he wasn’t targeting the race and actually said he’d be doing very little in advance of his title defence - but that doesn’t mean he won’t contend.
He’s a brilliant climber and has a good eye for the moves that count, as evidenced by his win last Easter and in the Suir Valley Three-Day last summer.
Sunday’s stage will be right up his street and we’d bank on him being right at the sharp end of things there.
He’s just won the Des Hanlon Memorial, so his form couldn’t be better timed.
Damien Shaw (Team ASEA)
The 2013 winner would love another title under his belt and with his new Team ASEA he’ll be keen to impress those who have backed them this year.
He’s got the support of arguably the strongest team in the race, any of whom can win stages and challenge the overall.
Shaw will come to the race hungry for success after a somewhat disappointing edition last year – by his own standards anyway. (Photo with thanks to David McVeigh and the Belgian Project)
Sean McKenna (Irish U23 Development team)
He made the break the first day last year and took the yellow jersey the following day in what was his debut Rás Mumhan.
The manner in which he sprinted for the minor placings on the Easter Saturday 12 months ago and subsequently claimed the jersey because of that sprint illustrates his undoubted class.
He’s been on fire this year already, claiming a staggering seven wins. He will spearhead the Irish U23 team managed by Neil Martin.
That will only inspire him to do something special. (Photo: Joe Duffy)
Bryan McCrystal
McCrystal enjoyed perhaps a slower start to the season than he would have liked but appears to be hitting top gear, or close to it at the right time.
He took the Wallace Caldwell Memorial the weekend before last and followed it up last weekend with victory in the Davis Cup in Claremorris.
Both events were part of the new National Road Series.
The Team ASEA man has won some of the biggest races in Ireland, including the Des Hanlon last year. Simply put, he is capable of winning any of the stages in Kerry this weekend and the overall. (Photo: Jimmy McElroy)
Eoin Morton
Morton has always been a strong rider but really showed his worth during the Rás last year when he was one of the very best county men in the race.
A talented rider with a big engine and the smarts to win good races, he can make his mark this weekend on any stage and it would come as no surprise if he came away from this weekend with something big in the bag.
Now finding himself on a weakened UCD team following the departure of a number of riders to Aquablue over the winter months, Morton has been outnumbered badly in some of the early races.
Related News
However, he came good last weekend with a win in the CicliSport GP in Co Tyrone and, like McCrystal, seems to be hitting some good form at exactly the right time.
Sean Lacey (Aqua Blue)
A seasoned campaigner at this stage but still as hungry as ever for success.
He’s a former winner, taking final yellow in 2011; and with a very strong team around him again, he should be there or thereabouts.
Lacey knows the roads better than anyone. He also knows the way the wind is likely to blow and where the breaks are likely to go.
That only comes with experience and in a race like this that counts for an awful lot.
Ryan Sherlock (Top Team)
Can this be the year the Monaghan man finally wins the race? He’s been one of the strongest in the race for years but never managed to finish the job.
Though he said he’s changing his focus this year to give more attention to the mountain bike, he’d still dearly love to get this one on his palmares, or even take a stage.
He was second to Dowling in the Des Hanlon recently and if he has the Top Team Lithuanian squad all pulling for him, he could be the man on the top step of the podium next Monday.
Páidi O'Brien (Osbourne Meats-McCarthy Cycles)
Still the best galloper in the country and the man whose wheel is the most coveted in or around the 500 metres to go mark.
But to say O’Brien is just a sprinter is to do him an enormous injustice because he’s won the Waterville stage the last two years.
What’s more, O’Brien has rarely needed a team. But might that change this year if he makes the front groups on days one, two and three?
He wouldn’t be short of willing helpers if that situation did arise.
Roger Aiken (Team ASEA)
He rarely surfaces before the An Post Rás, but with a new team this year and a big focus on being 100 per cent for the An Post Rás he’s opted to come down south for the first time in years.
He loves the hilly stuff and is a good man to sniff out a winning breakaway.
Aiken, above right, had disastrous luck at the Des Hanlon Memorial recently when he got caught up in a crash when the racing was really on and never regained contact with the bunch.
So in truth, we don’t know how good he is now. But such is his reputation that few will be willing to give him any slack. (Photo with thanks to David McVeigh and The Belgian Project)
Patrick Clarke (Fitscience)
The Mayo man is impossible to ignore after an heroic effort last year.
He spent the guts of 280 kilometres in the break on the Saturday and Sunday, managing to nick the yellow jersey from Sean McKenna on the penultimate stage for what was a thoroughly deserved moment in the sun.
Clarke loves to attack and never spares any effort when he gets into the break. That sometimes can work against him but has won him countless races and followers.
He is perhaps unlikely to repeat what he did last year, but a stage win is certainly within his reach. (Photo: Jimmy McElroy)
Topics
