After nine high-speed days of the FBD Milk Ras, it's back to more mundane competition this weekend and most attention will be on the Eagle club's three-day race at Dunboyne even though first category men are excluded.
The Slattery and Mooney memorial events listed for Tipperary and Collooney on Sunday have been called off but the Bann Valley Classic has been brought forward from September to Sunday in the Portglenone-Clady region where Peter Daly won the championship two years ago. David McCann is due to get back into competition there.
Ras hero Ciaran Power has accepted an invitation to take part in Sunday's under-23 French classic, the shorter amateur version of Paris-Roubaix. Aidan Duff will also be in the line-up with his Vendee U team and Power stays on in France for a few weeks to race with the San Quentin club.
Power and Duff will form the backbone of the under-23 squad for the European championship in Sweden in August and the World championship at Valkenburg in Holland in October. Along with most of the other Continental-based Irishmen, Duff will be home with Power for the road race championship at Collon on June 28th. It was confirmed this week that the title races, for seniors, juniors and women, will be sponsored by Finches.
Alice Sherratt expects to have a line-up of 120 for the Dunboyne promotion which is confined to second category licence holders, juniors, veterans and women.
The FIC junior team will be led by Mark Scanlon, with him will be David Kenneally, Thomas Hogan and Shane Prendergast with Barry Monaghan the manager. The team announced by Sean Bracken to represent Leinster is Sean and Jeremy Farrell, David Smith and Greg McCambridge.
Stage one tomorrow (2.30) is out to Summerhill for three laps of a circuit and back to Dunboyne, 68 miles. There is a 3.5 mile-time trial on Sunday morning (10.0) with 63 miles at 2.30 through Trim and Summerhill with three laps at Moynalvy and back again to Dunboyne. The final stage on Monday (1.0) is over 74 miles taking in Dunsany, Kilmessan, Dunderry, Athboy, Delvin, Killucan, Ballivor, Rathmoylan and Summerhill to finish again at Dunboyne.
Following another successful chapter in Ras history organiser Dermot Dignam has already considered some requests for stage ends next year. Although the number of starters this year, 152, was short of the record of 165, it is regarded by some as too many but Dignam is not going to limit the entry. "The Ras is there for cyclists and until it gets beyond manageable proportions nobody will be refused entry. We don't want any one team way above the standard of the rest but the county representation is the backbone of the Ras." Micheal Fitzgerald, who followed up his Ras stage win at New Ross on Friday by completing a hat-trick of final stage victories on Sunday, was invited by the manager of the Dutch team to race with them in the Netherlands. There were 114 in the charge for the line down O'Connell Street and the Dutch were impressed with Fitzgerald's great surge of speed to relegate two of their men to second and third places.
Deirdre Murphy, Claire Moore, Geraldine Gill and Jane McGooey will represent Ireland in the womens' international criterium on the circuit at Holburn in London on Sunday where the British Prutour finishes.
