Irish riders back in early season action

CYCLING:WITH THE season now fully under way, five Irish riders have been competing in three races this week, building form for bigger targets ahead.

Dan Martin finished in the main bunch on the opening two days of the Tour of the Mediterranean, biding his time and settling into the rhythm of competition.

He crossed the line in the same time as bunch sprint winner Romain Feillu on yesterday’s 120km stage to Rousset, and is sitting just 10 seconds behind overall leader Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar).

The prestigious race concludes on Sunday with the summit finish up Mont Faron; if Martin is feeling good, the Garmin-Cervélo rider has the climbing ability to take a strong result there.

He had a nose operation during the winter to try to correct the allergy problems he was experiencing at certain points of the season.

Meanwhile, Philip Deignan has got his year with the RadioShack team off to a start in the Challenge Mallorca series of races. He was 34th in the Trofeo Inca on Tuesday, ending the race in the main bunch sprinting for fourth place, 45 seconds behind his victorious team-mate Ben Hermans.

He was then 45th in yesterday’s Trofeo Magaluf–Palmanova, seven seconds behind the winner Murilo Antonio Fischer (Team Garmin-Cervelo).

Three Irish riders are competing in the Tour of Qatar. Matt Brammeier got his pro career with the HTC Highroad team under way with a superb 10th place in the prologue on Sunday; since then, he’s been working for team-mates, and yesterday helped Mark Renshaw to the stage win and into the race leader’s jersey.

His goal in today’s final stage will be to try to ensure the Australian holds on overall.

Mark Cassidy and new signing Sam Bennett have been competing for the An Post Grant Thornton M Donnelly Sean Kelly team in the race. Both finished in a large group eight minutes 51 seconds back yesterday, the main bunch having splintered due to high winds.

At home, interest is building in two big races to be held at Easter weekend. The Kerry Group Rás Mumhan will feature stage finishes at Killorglin, the Conor Pass, Waterville and Killorglin again, while the An Post Gorey Three-Day will have a new start from Blessington. Entries are open for both events.

Meanwhile, a pre-season training race will be held in Connacht this Sunday, beginning in Bohola at 10am.