Irish continue build-up

Cycling NewsFour Irish riders - Mark Scanlon and Philip Deignan (both Ag2R - Prévoyance) and the Navigators Insurance duo of Ciarán Power and David O'Loughlin - are continuing their build-up for the season by participating in the Tour of the Mediterranean.

Scanlon and Deignan finished towards the front of the main bunch at the end of yesterday's second stage, won by Philippe Gilbert of the La Francaise des Jeux team. Scanlon was 20th with Deignan in 32nd place.

O'Loughlin finished one minute and three seconds down in 99th place, while Power was a further one minute and 35 seconds in arrears. He was 137th on the stage. Jens Voigt of Team CSC continues to lead overall going into the third day, a 134-km leg from La Garde to Toulon. The race continues until Sunday.

Meanwhile, the recent Irish participation in the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia will be one of the last truly international events for the national squad this year.

Cycling Ireland recently announced, with the exception of the FBD Rás, the European Championships and the World Championships, all Team Ireland events will take place in Belgium this season.

Underage, junior, under-23 and elite riders of both genders will be affected by this decision, which has been taken in response to budget deficit problems. Only those who have achieved pre-set standards will be considered for selection for European and/or World Championships. CI said as a consequence, they may not send any riders to these events.

Illness affecting the Irish riders meant the squad's participation in the Tour de Langkawi was below pre-race expectations. Team leader David McCann was forced out with a bad chest infection, while the remaining riders were all hit by food poisoning. Paul Griffin, Roger Aiken and Stephen Gallagher were the only ones to complete the 10-day Malaysian event.

Finally, cycling's governing body, the UCI, recently increased the "last-kilometre" rule to three kilometres. Any riders delayed by a mechanical problem or directly or indirectly by a crash inside this distance will be credited with the same time as the group they were in.

Details in SPORTS ROUND-UP