Deignan in right gear to challenge the big guns in Tour of Ireland

PHILIP DEIGNAN’S performances to date in the Tour of Germany would indicate he has hit form at precisely the right time in advance of the Tour of Ireland professional cycle race which gets underway with an exciting stage from Kilkenny to Cork tomorrow week.

Deignan’s professional career to date has been punctuated by injury but he has now shown a fine return to form and will line up alongside Nicolas Roche, Paul Griffin, Brian Kenneally, Dermot Nally and two young guns, Martyn Irvine from Newtownards and Derek Burke from Tuam, who have emerged from the U-23 ranks. Paul Griffin, who rides for the Giant Asia team, will be on familiar roads when the race travels through his home town of Tralee and after finishing seventh and ninth in this year’s Tour of Malaysia and Tour of Taiwan, respectively, he certainly has the experience to mix it.

Dermot Nally, a former national junior champion, was born in Cork but moved to Valencia with his family as a youngster and was a semi-professional for a number of years with the Costa de Almeria — Paternina and Columbia-Selle Italia outfits.