Elite squads to lead charge

Cycling News: It's 15 years since the last edition of the Nissan Classic was run but over the next few days, the latest incarnation of the race will see some of the world's top level professional riders and teams arrive in the country.

The Tour of Ireland begins in Kilkenny on Wednesday, and over five days and 864 kilometres 16 teams will slug it out for stage wins plus the final race leader's yellow jersey. Three top-flight ProTour squads lead the charge, with the world's number one team, CSC, plus T-Mobile and Unibet sending some of their best riders to the race.

As confirmed this week, CSC will be led by the Schleck brothers, Andy and Fränk. The former, who is just 22 years of age, surprised even his team when he finished second overall in this year's Tour of Italy. His brother, five years his senior, last year won the Amstel Gold Classic and the Alpe d'Huez stage of the Tour de France.

T-Mobile's challenge is likely to be led by another Classic winner, Gent-Wevelgem victor Marcus Burghardt plus Bernhard Eisel. The latter won two out of the three races plus the overall in the Commerce Bank Triple Crown Series in the US in June, and should be one of the fastest riders in the sprints.

He is likely to be challenged by Unibet's two fast men, Baden Cooke and Jeremy Hunt, Ceramica Panaria Navigare's Maximiliano Richeze and the talented Edvald Boasson Hagen (Maxbo Bianchi), who has clocked up victory after victory this season, plus Rabobank's Martijn Maaskant, leader of the UCI Europe Tour.

Irish supporters will be heartened by what is a strong turnout of home riders. Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche will spearhead the Ireland team, both being released by their ProTour squads for the duration of the race. They showed good form in recent events (Deignan in the Tour of Germany and Roche in the Tour de l'Ain). They will be supported by Paul Griffin, Derek Burke, Martin Irvine, Dermot Nally and Brian Kenneally.

Like Roche, Stephen Gallagher was also going well in the Tour de l'Ain. He will be one of the strong men on the Irish-registered Continental team, Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly Seán Kelly. Paídi O'Brien, Mark Cassidy, Morgan Fox, Isaac Speirs, Simon Kelly and Glenn Bak will aim to get a good return for the sponsors.

Irish road race champion David O'Loughlin and Ciarán Power will lead the Navigators Insurance team, while another US-based squad, Colavita Sutter Home, will feature David McCann in the driving seat.

The Fáilte Ireland-backed event will feature finishes in Cork, Kenmare, Ennis, Galway and Dublin.