Rás Tailteann is back on the road and, for this year, that’s all that matters. All of Irish cycling will want an Irish winner but when the race rolls out of west Dublin on Wednesday the domestic scene will have already scored a win. Many of us feared the race would never run again after a three-year hiatus but, thankfully, those fears have proven unfounded.
But once the joy of seeing ‘The Big One’ back on the road again, attention will of course immediately switch to who is going to do the damage. Can an Irish rider really win overall and how many stages will the host nation’s riders claim?
This year’s event is a little bit more difficult to predict. Gone, for now, are the many strong European Continental teams that were certain to rip the field apart when the big show started. This year, while there are elite teams from the UK, Europe and the US it is very difficult to assess precisely the threat they may pose.
Advertisement
However, the Irish riders are much more familiar to us and stickybottle strongly suspects the best riders in the race are Irish. It’s now fourteen long seasons since Stephen Gallagher, the last Irish rider to win the race, captured the final yellow jersey. But we are as sure as we can be that the drought for the Irish will be broken this year.
So which Irish riders can win the race overall and who can win stages?
The two teams that jump off the page are the Irish national team and Cycling Ulster. There are no passengers in either line-up. These are teams deep in talent, with all of the riders in form. If they combine well as two units – which they will – they will make life very uncomfortable.
The Irish team is comprised of Rory Townsend, Dean Harvey, Archie Ryan, Adam Ward and Paul Antoine Hagan. Any one of them can win a stage and Townsend could win several in sprints from groups.
In terms of the best bet for the overall, Townsend and Ryan are the stand-out names. If the climbs were a little harder and longer, Ryan would be our pick to win this race. However, Townsend is strong in every department and the climbs on this race will not trouble him. Which one of them rises to the top in this team largely depends on how hard the racing is on the days the climbs come very late – stage 2 into Castleisland and stage 3 into Lisdoonvarna.
Along with Ryan and Townsend, another stand-out Irish name for the overall win is Matt Teggart in the Cycling Ulster line-up. Like Townsend and Ryan, Teggart has been exposed to European pro racing in recent seasons and so far this year. And when the fatigue begins to build in this field and the racing reaches those late climbs on the key days, Teggart will among that half dozen riders who come into their own as others are moving into survival mode.
Like the Irish team, the Cycling Ulster team is also comprised of five riders who call wall win stages; Teggart, Linsday Watson, Conor Halvey, Gareth O’Neil and Darnell Moore. While Halvey does not have the number of wins under his belt that his team mates have, the grapevine says he is emerging rapidly and has ridden very well this year. Combined, this is an incredible team and is as good, indeed better, than some of the Irish teams who have graced this race down the years.
Related News
Another contender for overall and stage victory is Daire Feeley; the most prolific winner on the home scene in recent years and a rider with lots of international experience under his belt. Feeley is a dogged competitor with a lot of class and he is among the small group of riders with the credentials to win this race outright, as evidenced by his sparkling record.
He rides the race with a strong All human-VeloRevolution team that includes Richard Maes, Tim O’Regan, Vladislav Evseev, Mark Dowling; the latter one of the best riders in the country on his day. While Dowling has had a more subdued season this year, he may yet turn it on in the week ahead. This is a tight group, with lots of horsepower, that will bury themselves for Feeley if he gets into yellow.
EvoPro Racing also has some very strong riders in their line-up, though the loss of Conn McDunphy – taken out of the race by Covid-19 – is a massive setback to their hopes of winning the race outright. Had McDunphy been in the event, he would have been among that group of riders with the likes of Townsend, Teggart, Ryan and Feeley who would like the racing as hard as possible.
However, JB Murphy has been brought in to replace McDunphy and the team also has Tom Moriarty, Liam Curley, Mitchell McLaughlin and Cian Keogh. Murphy can do everything – win the biggest races on the roads at home and score medals at major international track meetings, including last year’s elite Europeans. If he gets a chance of a stage will, he’s well able to take it.
Curley is in the same boat. He is perhaps an outside bet for overall victory but he is a top rider, with a lot of experience at home and abroad, and can definitely win a stage this week. McLaughlin, Moriarty and Keogh can also look to get into the breakaways and hope to take any chance that comes.
In the Trinity Racing line-up, Matthew Devins and Kevin McCambridge are too very strong contenders. If he is recovered from his early season problems – Covid-19 and then a bad crash – McCambridge would be in that small group of Irish riders who are genuine contenders to win the race overall. But it’s not clear if he is fully up to form just yet after his recent issues, though the coming five days will soon answer that question.
Devins is a very clear contender for a stage win and he may also be a surprise package in the overall. He climbed very well on international duty in France a few weeks ago and if he can replicate that, he would find himself in the mix for yellow.
Cycling Leinster’s Jason Kenny is having his best year to date, with several impressive wins, and a stage win is within his grasp. Similarly, UCD’s Conor Murnane can also take a stage win as he is a very strong rider on the hardest days and is one of the best sprinters in the country.
Clare Burren CC’s Mark Shannon, Paul Kennedy and Danny MacDonald have all won race this year and can make an impact. Other riders who can impress include: Conor McCann (Down Newry Wheelers), David Montgomery and Darragh McCarter of Spellman Dublin Port, Odhran Doogan (Pinergy Orwell Wheelers), Cillian Murphy (Galway Bay CC), Killarney CC’s Conor Kissane, Lorcan Daly and Leo Doyle. Luke Smith of Moynalty CC and Craig McAuley of Tyrone Caldwell Cycles can also get up the road and look to take a big result.
Carlow Dan Morrissey’s line-up is comprised of Conor Hennebry, Matteo Cigala, Nathan Keown, Adam Stenson and Devin Shortt. Italian rider Cigala is probably the most likely to take a stage victory, though the whole team is very strong.
Hennebry, like the aforementioned Dowling, would be among the favourites for a stage victory in any other year but has had a quieter season so far. However, there would be no better time than the next five days to hit top level again.
