Barry centre stage as Rás Mumhan clicks into gear

LAST YEAR’S Kerry Group Rás Mumhan winner Timmy Barry has ruled out any chance of reclaiming the title and insists a stage win is about as much as he can aspire to, given the quality of the start-list for the race which begins today in Killorglin (4pm).

Barry, 36, came out of retirement at the start of last year and surprised many by claiming one of the biggest honours on the domestic cycling scene, winning by a margin of almost three and a half minutes but this year, he has played down his chances.

“Realistically I don’t think it’s possible for me (to win),” he admitted. “If I got a stage win out of it I’d be happy. It’s not very realistic to aim for anything more than that. I’m going to be a marked man, I’ll have number one on my back and because I won it by such a big gap last year, I can see myself being marked out of it so we’ll have to have a few different cards.