Get ready for top-class cycling in Athlone
The first stage of the 2018 Rás Tailteann finishes in Athlone on Sunday.
Featuring the Irish national team, eleven international squads and 19 Irish county teams, the 2018 Rás Tailteann begins in Drogheda on Sunday, with the exciting stage finish in Athlone later that day.
The world-ranked event is the most prestigious race in Irish cycling and will feature ferocious competition between the international and domestic riders, as well as some of the most unpredictable racing on the world calendar.
The international squads are the Ireland Holdsworth Pro Racing setup, the Belgian National Team, Britain Canyon Eisberg, Britain Saint Piran Elite Cycling Team, Britain Team KTM, Germany Bike Aid, Netherlands Delta Cycling X, Switzerland National Team, USA CCB Foundation – Sicleri, USA Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis and the Wales Racing Academy.
These include past Rás stage winner and former world and European track champions, as well as some highly talented young competitors which may well be part of the top pro scene in the future.
The Irish national team will feature 2014 Rás stage winner Robert-Jon McCarthy, as well as the gifted track and road rider Marc Potts plus the talented young competitors Darnell Moore, James Curry and Jake Gray.
Home hopes will also rest on the shoulders of former national champion Damien Shaw, Sean McKenna and Conn McDunphy, who are all part of the Ireland Holdsworth Pro Racing team.
The race will feature 19 Irish county teams, namely Cycling Leinster, Antrim Velo Café Magasin, Cork Blarney RC, Cork Strata3/Velorevolution, Dublin Friends First St. Tiernan’s, Dublin Lucan PDM, Dublin Scott Orwell Wheelers, Dublin Team Gerard DHL, Dublin UCD FitzCycles, Galway Gerry McVeigh Cars – DoorMotion, Kerry Killarney, Kerry Tralee Manor West, Longford Outdoor Escape Bike Shop, Louth Jons/Scme/Glen Dimplex, Mayo Ballina Molloys Pharmacies, Mayo Castlebar Unit 7, Tipperary Collins Cycle Centre, Tipperary Panduit and Westmeath Viner-Caremark-Pactimo.
Those squads include the riders who were first and second in last weekend’s Shay Elliott Memorial, Ronan McLaughlin and Matteo Cigala (Westmeath Viner-Caremark-Pactimo), their teammate Conor Hennebry, who won the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan in April and leads the Cycling Ireland A1 rider rankings, and Lindsay Watson (Antrim Velo Café Magasin), who is second in the latter standings.
In all, 155 riders will line out in Drogheda this Sunday. The opening stage begins at noon will see a mixture of climbs and sprints along the 136 kilometres to Athlone. There are two category three ascents, and hot spot sprints at Rochfortbridge and Kilbeggan. Both of these will award time bonuses towards the general classification, and could well prove vital.
It's estimated that the leading riders will arrive into Athlone's Accommodation Road, where the finish line will be set up, at around 3pm on Sunday.
Day two extends 148.7 kilometres from Athlone to Tipperary.