BRIAN KENNEALLY has recovered from his third win in the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan, but has not yet decided if he will contest the Shay Elliott Memorial in Bray next Sunday when he could opt for the big race down south, the Bill Hyland Memorial in Clonmel.

BRIAN KENNEALLY goes to the line for today’s opening stage of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan in Killorglin with his sights firmly set on a third victory in the race.

PAUL HEALION (South Dublin) won the senior men’s national time trial title in the absence of the professional riders at Newcastlewest last night.

CIARÁN POWER (Pezula Racing) put five days of misery behind him to win the stage and put himself right up in contention for what would be a sensational third FBD Milk Rás victory at the end of a 112 mile trip from Skibbereen to Clonmel that wrought havoc at the top of the general classification sheet where Simon Richardson (Plowman Craven) now holds the overall lead and former race leader, Stephen Gallagher (An Post/Sean Kelly), moves back up to within 10 seconds of reclaiming pole position.

PÁIDÍ O’BRIEN can claim his first national senior title on Friday night in the criterium championship in Killarney where a closed 700m circuit will ensure plenty of entertainment.

DAVID O’LOUGHLIN (Navigators Insurance) dug deep into his vast reserves of experience and knowledge to win the national road race championship in spectacular, if not dramatic, fashion in Waterford yesterday where he outsprinted a six-man leading group for his third title.

BRIAN KENNEALLY (MyHome.ie/BDBC) won Rás Mumhan in a pulsating finish in Killorglin yesterday.

RAYMOND CLARKE (Dan Morrissey/Carrick Wheelers) will wear the race leader’s yellow jersey when Rás Mumhan leaves Killorglin today on the first of the three road stages.

BRIAN KENNEALLY is bidding to reclaim the Rás Mumhan title — the highlight of the Easter Weekend cycling programme — but he admitted it will be a tall order.

DEFENDING champion, Chris Newton (Recycling.co.uk), pipped former winner, Tommy Evans (IRC Usher Insulations) in the first stage of this year’s FBD Insurance Rás from Tallaght to Enniscorthy yesterday.

CHRIS NEWTON goes to the start line in Tallaght tomorrow defending his FBD Insurance Rás title.

ANDY ROCHE, winner of the title in 1997, has been forced to pull out of next week’s FBD Insurance RÁS following a disastrous crash 500m from the finish of Sunday’s Rutland GP.

PAUL HEALION (Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group) heads into today's final stage of the Credit Union Ras Mumhan in Killorglin almost certain of victory.

THE Murphy & Gunn/Newlyn Group team will show the full extent of their powers when they line up for the Credit Union Rás Mumhan in Kerry this weekend, with the top two from last year, John Dempsey and Conor Murphy, in the line-up.

EUGENE MORIARTY (cycleways.com) returns to his native Listowel on Sunday bidding to reclaim the trophy that perpetuates the memory of the man who inspired him to take up cycling, his late grandfather, Gene.

CHRIS NEWTON (Recycling.co.uk) maintained leadership of the FBD Insurance RAS with Malcolm Elliott (Yorkshire Trinity Capital) still the closest challenger after yesterday’s stage.

AUSTRALIAN Graeme Browne won yesterday’s first stage of the Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi.

Murphy and Gunn’s Malcolm Elliott may have taken the stage win in a Phoenix Park sprint finish, but the spoils went to Belfast amateur David McCann as he claimed his first ever FBD Milk Rás title this evening, crossing the finish in the main field.

DERMOT NALLY, who has spent all of his racing career in Spain, made a dramatic return to his native Cork yesterday when he screamed into Charleville to win the third stage of the FBD Milk Rás.

STEPHEN O’SULLIVAN (Cycleways Lee Strand) won his first national senior title in the All-Ireland Criterium Championship around the famed Monaghan Road circuit in Cork yesterday.