Progressively tougher Rás route guarantees dramatic battle

THE former stage winner may have ridden the race 17 times and an 18th appearance is in his plans for this year but when Stephen O’Sullivan was handed the title of Route Director for this year’s An Post Rás by his father-in-law, Dermot Dignam, avoided soft options and came up with one of the most difficult routes in the history of the event.

Even Dignam himself, who has been Race Organiser since 1979 with the exception of 1982, had a glint in his eye when he saw the route designed by his son-in-law for what will be the 59th edition of Irish cycling’s showpiece.

O’Sullivan, who has strong Kerry roots, takes the race into what many regard as its spiritual home among the Kerry Mountains with a stage from Kilrush to Castleisland that negotiates the Barnagh Gap, Ahaneboy and Glanshearoon followed by a finishing circuit that incorporates the Cat 1 climb of Crag Cave.

The next day the race goes to Castletownbere via Ladies View, Molls Gap, the Tousist and Knockanoughanish before the climb to the Healy Pass, just half an hour from the finish line.

A former winner of Rás Mumhan, it is all territory that is well known to the Dubliner but it tells just part of the tale of what promises to be a long, hard week for the combined field of international and national riders.

“The route is tough — I wanted to get a good mix of stages,” said O’Sullivan. “Actually the shorter climbs probably create more racing while the bigger climbs are inclined to nullify the racing. I tried to get a mix of smaller climbs to try and antagonise people to race.

“There are a few towns we haven’t been in before — like Kildare — and a couple of climbs the race would not have gone up before. Dermot was pleasantly surprised when I showed them to him.”

One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s race is the stage finish in Blarney which once ranked alongside Sean Kelly’s Carrick-on-Suir as one of Ireland’s cycling strongholds.

The late Donal Crowley, who hailed from Blarney, was a multi-stage winner during an illustrious career.

“I have included some traditional Rás towns like down in Kerry and the race hasn’t been to Blarney since 1992.

“Like so many other cyclists I have fond memories of racing in Blarney. In fact my first ever stage races were in the famous Blarney 3-Day.

“The stage to Tramore is also going to be exciting with numerous third cat climbs and an uphill finish which will definitely shake the race up.

“It’s tough. You have to remove yourself as a cyclist from it because you might be inclined to opt for the easier routes but if the race was easy anybody could ride and that would take away from the spirit of the race.”

This year An Post has taken over the sponsorship from FBD Insurance and the An Post Chief Executive, Donal Connell, said they were delighted to support what was a world renowned event which, like An Post, is deeply ingrained in local communities throughout Ireland.

“Over the past four years An Post has been the biggest supporter of Irish cycling at both elite and grass roots level through our association with the An Post Sean Kelly team, the Tour of Ireland and the An Post Cycle Series,” he said. “The Rás is a great addition to our support for Irish cycling.”

Some of the stars who assembled for yesterday’s launch in Dublin included the legendary Seamus O’Hanlon who is a four time winner, Philip Cassidy who won it twice and Gene Mangan and Brian Connaughton who also share chapters in the history books.

After the success of last year’s race start in Dunboyne, the 2.2 world ranked event will again return to the Meath town, starting on Sunday, May 22, and finishing in the seaside town of Skerries eight on May 29 after visits to Portumna, Kilrush, Castleisland, Castletownbere, Blarney, Tramore and Kildare.