Scanlon back in saddle for Rás

MARK SCANLON will make his return to international cycling in a familiar green jersey when he lines up with the Subway Eat Fresh Irish team for the start of the FBD Insurance RÁS in Naas on Sunday.

The 1998 world junior champion was making no predictions when the line-up for the event was announced by Race Director Dermot Dignam yesterday.

“I have not raced in two months, so I won’t be expecting an awful lot from myself,” he said. “The plan is to get back my race fitness and to do all I possibly can to help my team-mates.”

His last appearance in the race was as a member of the Irish team back in 2001 when he won an exciting stage into Killorglin. He was cycling in France at the time and this year he turned his attentions the USA — basing himself in Los Angeles — but he only spent a couple of months there.

Now himself and Dermot Nally, a Cork-born cyclist who has lived most of his life in Spain, have been brought into the new track programme.

This programme is directed by Simon Jones who took the Great Britain teams to gold, silver and bronze medals at the last two Olympic Games.

Declan Byrne, the new Executive Director of Cycling Ireland, said yesterday that Britain’s former cycling guru was confident that he can put together a four-man pursuit team that can qualify for Beijing by building on the squad that competed in this year’s world cup in Manchester.

From that point of view it is interesting that Scanlon and Dermot Nally, who won the Rás stage into Tullow a couple of years ago, should be joining forces for the coming week on a strong Irish team that also includes David McCann, the last Irish rider to win the overall title, and his Giant Asia team-mate, Paul Griffin from Tralee, who is a former stage winner with Martyn Irvine completing the squad.

He won a stage in the Tour of Ulster and had some good results in France and Belgium recently.

“We will be looking for a couple of stage wins and the overall title,” Team Manager, Cian Lynch, insisted.

Lynch himself rode the race seven times and was on the Sorrento team that won the team title in 1997.

Meanwhile, Race Director, Dermot Dignam was yesterday trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the remainder of the Iran team after four of them arrived in Ireland on Tuesday, three days ahead of schedule.

He was informed that the four had arrived at Dublin Airport but was unable to track them down until late that night when the Iran federation told him they were at the Iranian Embassy.

They also told him the other five members of he party did not have their visas and if they did not get them then the others would not take part.

“I contacted Immigration and was told that all the visas were in the Irish Embassy in Tehran. I don’t know why they were not picked up when they were collecting the others. I’m hoping that they get their visas and everything will be OK.”