Dervan gears-up for Olympic bid in Rás Mumhan

SIOBHÁN DERVAN will be the only woman in the line-up when Rás Mumhan gets under way with a prologue time trial in Killorglin this evening.

After taking on the top women in the world in two UCI races in Italy at the end of March, she is racing against the men this weekend as she prepares for a return to Europe next week for three UCI ranking races in Holland .

“I am only committing myself to three stages of Rás Mumhan on account of the three hard races,” she said.

It is all part of her build-up to her bid for Olympic qualification which she can achieve at this year’s world championships if all goes according to plan.

Already this year she has raced against the top women in the world. On March 24 she finished 22nd in the Giro Communi Riporbello.

She was in the leading group that included world silver medallist, Nicole Cooke, bronze medallist, Trixi Worrack, Olympic champion and team mate, Sara Carrigan, and the 2005 world champion Suzanne Ljunkskog.

A native of Cork, the chemistry graduate began her sporting career in athletics with St Finbarr’s athletics club with whom she won a Munster cross-country title but after a succession of injuries she turned to cycling, joining the professional ranks and riding alongside the 2004 Olympic champion, Sara Carrigan, as a member of the Lotto Belisol ladies team based in Belgium.

She won the Irish national road race title two years ago and wants to reclaim it this year as part of her long-term goal to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Under coach Paddy Doran, she also wants to win a world cup event and make the top 10 in the world championships.

Last year, she became the first Irish woman to finish the world road race championship in Salzburg, finishing 66th.

Rás Mumhan gets under way this evening with a four-mile time trial in Killorglin. Tomorrow is a gruelling 100-mile trip from Killorglin to Castleisland, taking in tough terrain around North Kerry and North Cork.

Sunday’s stage around South Kerry will be equally demanding and should sort out the positions at the top of the general classification in advance of Monday morning’s final stage around the Killorglin-Beaufort and Donal McKenna circuits.

Meanwhile, former Olympic gold medallist and three-times Tour de France rider Daniel Becke will lead a strong professional team from Germany — Thuringer Energie — in this year’s FBD Insurance Rás, which starts in Naas on Sunday, May 20.

Becke was a member of the German squad which won the Olympic team pursuit in Sydney in 2000. He has raced with the top-level Bianchi, Caisse d’Epargne-Iles Balears and Team Milram squads in recent seasons. He started the Tour de France in the years from 2003 to 2005, and took five top-20 placings on stages.

He finished 11th in the individual pursuit at the world track championships in Majorca last Thursday.

The 2007 edition of the race will get underway with a 157-kilometre stage from Naas to Templemore. The riders will cover almost 1,200 kilometres as they travel anti-clockwise around the country, taking in additional stage finishes at Loughrea, Sligo, Dungloe, Buncrana, Derry, Newcastle and Skerries.