New team gears up for season

CYCLING: Following last month's launch of the Seán Kelly Racing Team, Irish cycling will receive another strong boost with the unveiling of another continental level squad, the Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn team, in Milltown this coming Tuesday.

Manchester United chief Alex Ferguson will be the guest of honour at the media launch, where the full line-up of riders for the 2006 season will be officially announced.

The squad has been preparing for the new season with some local training camps, the most recent of which was based in Sandyford and saw the riders ride the Shay Elliott course and that of the Bray GP.

The team includes established internationals such as Andrew Roche, Paul Healion and Morgan Fox, plus 11 others. They will be using Pinarello frames, Rudy project helmets and glasses, and expect to compete in several world-ranked races abroad, including the Giro del Capo in South Africa next month. The FBD Insurance Rás and the national championships will also be big focuses for the squad, which is receiving good financial backing from the sponsors.

Meanwhile, Irish professional David O'Loughlin finished 58th in Wednesday's third stage of the Tour of California, a 27.4 kilometre time trial in San José. The Navigators Insurance rider covered the course in three minutes, 18 seconds off the winning pace set by Phonak's Floyd Landis.

Landis had started the day fourth, 10 seconds behind stage-two winner and overall leader George Hincapie (Discovery Channel). However the 30-year-old was clearly faster than the rest of the field in the test, beating Dave Zabriskie and his CSC team-mate Bobby Julich by 25.62 and 34.98 seconds respectively. Hincapie was fourth, 55.04 seconds down.

Landis consequently jumped to the head of the overall classification and now holds a 29-second lead over closest challenger Zabriskie. Julich and Hincapie are 34 and 45 seconds back, while O'Loughlin is 51st, nine minutes and 12 seconds down. The Tour of California continues with a 210.7km stage to San Luis Obispo, and ends on Sunday.

Finally, after months of preparation the Irish road racing season gets under way this weekend. University riders get a slight head start on the others as they are eligible for the intervarsity championships in NUI Galway today. The Bray Grand Prix takes place tomorrow, while on Sunday road riders have a choice between the Lacey Cup in Tralee and the John Haldane Memorial in Hilltown.

Fixtures: Today: Irish Intervarsity championships, NUI Galway. Time trial at 10.30am, road race at 2.30pm. More information from Eoin Whelan at 087 2984433. Tomorrow: Bray Grand Prix, starts 11am from Bray Wheelers' old clubhouse, Dargle Road. Apollo winter cross league, Craigavon Lakes. Sunday: Lacey Cup, Tralee, starts 12.30 from Dingle Road. John Haldane Memorial, Hilltown, starts noon. Plush Downhill winter league, Moneyscalp. Sign-on closes 11am sharp. Cycling Ireland Foundation Coaching course, Spawell Complex, starts 10am. More information from Will Byrne at 086 8047839.