It seems as if Fraser Duncan has spent most of the season with his hands in the air. Don't bet against him doing it again this weekend.
With teams from Holland, Scotland and England coming to the Tour of the North this weekend, the domestic riders won't have it all their own way.
However, there are some very strong Irish riders in the field and a couple look like they're coming into some really good form.
Here we take a look at some of those home riders most likely to cause a stir; who have been flying this year and/or have done well in this race before.
Fraser Duncan (Dave Kane Cycles-Northern CC)
This list of riders most likely to make an impression on the Tour of North this weekend may not be presented in any order of importance, but if it was Fraser Duncan’s name would still be top of the list.
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Very much a hard man in the old school sense, Duncan has tactical nous and is an excellent sprinter to boot.
The fact that he can also climb makes him an obvious candidate for the yellow jersey this weekend.
With five victories under his belt already in 2014, Duncan has enjoyed perhaps (perhaps! – Ed) his best ever start to a season, with his Midas touch already having secured the Coombes-Connor Memorial, the John Moore Memorial, the Spires GP, the Tour of Ards and the Red Hand Trophy.
His talents are surpassed only by a willingness to take the race to his competitors and while cycling is an unpredictable game, we put Duncan down as the man most likely to cause chaos this weekend.
Marcus Christie will be looking forward to the stage two time trial on Sunday. The An Post-Chainreaction man rides for North Pole CC this weekend.
Marcus Christie (North Pole CC)
Home from Belgium where he rides for the An Post-Chainreaction team, Christie is a very strong road race rider but his main strength probably lies in the race against the clock. If he is to be beaten in Sunday morning’s second stage time trial, it will be by somebody world class.
Presuming he’s able to hang on to the leaders on arguably the queen stage of the race on the opening day, Christie is a man who may well be in the leader’s jersey after that second stage and will be looking to retain it.
He has had a decent start to the season for An Post, most notably with making the winning breakaway on the opening stage at the Etoile de Bessèges (UCI 2.1) five-day race in France in February.
He would go on to wear the best young riders’ jersey and is clearly capable of making his presence felt this weekend.
Adam Armstrong is a man on form and will be looking to add the Tour of the North 2014 to his impressive palmares this weekend.
Adam Armstrong (Dave Kane Cycles-Northern CC)
The man of the season in 2012, Irish cycling fans didn’t see too much of Adam Armstrong last year despite his clear ability.
Like Fraser Duncan, he has switched from the now defunct Eurocycles in the off season to Northern-Dave Kane. And although he had a slow start to the year, very strong displays at the recent Ben McKenna Memorial in Balbriggan and the Stamullen Grand Prix show he is starting to shape up very nicely indeed.
A former winner of the race, Armstrong will be a contender on every stage. And with Duncan and the revitalised Mark Kane (who took third in Stamullen on Sunday and can't be ruled out) behind him, he could well win the race outright.
Seen here winning the Phoenix GP earlier in the year, Conor Murphy is back with former teammates Armstrong and Duncan this weekend and will be a serious threat.
Conor Murphy (Dave Kane Cycles-Northern CC)
Having moved from the now defunct Eurocycles team in winter, Murphy now rides for the Caldwell Cycles team in Omagh.
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Despite a lack of strength in depth in the Omagh squad, Murphy has had no problem winning four races with little or no support this season.
This weekend, however, he will ride for the Dave Kane-Northern CC squad alongside former Eurocycles teammates Duncan and Armstrong. And when these three get together, anything is possible.
Murphy has the strength and savvy to pull a stage or even overall victory out of the bag this year.
Peter Hawkins is showing a return to the form that saw him wear yellow on the An Post Ras last year. Will he wear yellow this weekend?
Peter Hawkins (Cycling Ulster)
Now based in England with the Madison Genesis professional team, Hawkins got his season off to a great start with second place on the opening stage of the British Cycling Elite Road Race series, the two-day Tour of the Reservoir last week.
The Belfast man then followed it up with fifth on stage two and finished second overall.
This weekend, Hawkins will be the most experienced rider on a young Cycling Ulster team comprising Mark Buchanan, Jude Sand, Ryan Reilly and Gareth McKee.
If he can keep his momentum going from last week, then he will definitely be a challenger.
Can prolific junior Eddie Dunbar pull off a big win or strong ride against the seniors this weekend?
Irish Junior Team
An Irish junior quintet of Eddie Dunbar, Mark Downey, Dylan O’Brien, Michael O’Loughlin and Stephen Shanahan take on the big guns this weekend.
With all five having shown good early season form, this squad should have no trouble holding their own up north.
It will be interesting to see if Eddie Dunbar’s usual tactic of attacking from the gun, staying away all day and winning by a huge margin will succeed against such established senior riders.
If it does then the rumours are true, we have another Mark Scanlon on our hands.
But one swallow doesn't make a spring, and every single one of the others is deservedly in the international fold having performed really well this year.
Dunbar may be the pick of the bunch so far in their development, but Shanahan, Downey, O'Brien and O'Loughlin are all very good riders capable of doing a ride this weekend.
Ronan McLaughlin has the experience and tactical savvy to be a real contender this weekend.
Ronan McLaughlin (North Pole CC)
Former An Post rider Ronan McLaughlin has been based at home this season and having finished second to Duncan in the Red Hand Trophy finally got his first win of the year in the PJ Logan Cup a fortnight ago.
Now riding for Dig Deep Coaching, McLaughlin will line up alongside Marcus Christie for his local North Pole squad at the Tour of the North this weekend.
Between the two of them the duo have enough experience to win the race and also have the experienced Rory Devlin and Damian Lagan in support.
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