Deignan only Irish rider in Giro

CYCLING NEWS: LETTERKENNY RIDER Philip Deignan will tomorrow begin the Giro d'Italia, which gets underway in Turin with a 19.3 kilometre team time trial.

The Team Radioshack rider is the sole Irish participant in this year’s race, with Nicolas Roche passing up the Grand Tour in order to be in the best shape possible for the Tour de France, and Daniel Martin deciding to give it a miss due to problems with allergies at this time of the year.

Martin’s decision not to ride means he could be placed to compete in his first Tour de France in July.

Deignan has said he won’t do the French race, with the team opting to put him into the Giro instead; the difficulty of recent editions of the race means it is tough to recover afterwards for the Tour, and this is exacerbated by a particularly gruelling edition of the Giro this time round.

Many of the contenders for the Tour de France are steering clear of the race as a result, but Alberto Contador is one who wants to take on both challenges.

The Spaniard is returning to the event for the first time since winning it in 2008 and will start tomorrow as the big favourite.

The extremely mountainous course should suit him, although he admits he too is nervous about how hard the climbs are.

Contador’s participation in the Tour is of course uncertain; he tested positive for Clenbuterol at last year’s race, and while the Spanish federation cleared him in February, that decision is under appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAS has said it will issue a ruling before the start of the Tour, and his presence there – plus his victory last season – will depend on what the three arbitrators decide.

In other news, two teams with a strong Irish interest have been confirmed as competing in this year’s An Post Rás. The An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly team will return again, and will hope to repeat their 2008 overall victory.

The final line-up hasn’t yet been decided, but Mark Cassidy, Ronan McLaughlin and the talented young neo-pros Philip Lavery and Sam Bennett are on the provisional roster.

Meanwhile, former race winner David McCann will lead the Giant Kenda team, and will likely be joined by Martyn Irvine plus three foreign team-mates.

Both have shown good form this season and, like the An Post riders, will play a big part in the action.

Fixtures

Saturday: Newbridge road race, Curragh. First races at 11am.

Sunday: Hammond Memorial events, start 10.30am at Roundwood GAA club; incorporates Trek women's Classic league; Tour of the Mournes, sign on Newry Hockey Club from 9am; IVCA DMS Race, starts Warrenstown at 9.15am; Connacht RR league, Ballinrobe.