Ambitious Swedish and Australian teams announced for An Post Rás
Former professional Thomas Löfkvist will manage 2010 An Post Rás winner, Alex Wetterhall and four other riders in May’s edition of the race, aiming to deliver a second race victory to 28 year old Wetterhall.
The Tre Berg – Bianchi squad is one of two teams announced today, taking part in the race, which begins in Dunboyne, Co. Meath on May 17th. The Swedish Continental-level squad will be joined by the Australian club team Subaru Albion, which also has ambitious goals for the event.
While the line up is yet to be finalised, Löfkvist said: “We come to race for an overall victory and to hunt for stages. Alexander Wetterhall will be our leader.”
Wetterhall is likely to be joined by two-time Swedish criterium champion Sebastian Balck and Lucas Eriksson, who in turn placed sixth and seventh at the Junior World Championships in 2013 and 2014.
The other two places on the team may go to 2013 Memorial Pigoni Coli runner-up Kim Magnusson and Niklas Gustavsson, who was third in the 2012 London Nocturne.
Löfkvist will use his considerable racing experience to guide the squad through the 2015 edition. He rode the Rás himself in 2003, forging a successful professional career with top teams including Team High Road and Team Sky. His results include overall victory in the 2013 Tour of the Mediterranean with Team IAM Cycling.
Already familiar with Irish roads, the Australian Subaru Albion team arrive in Ireland in mid-April and will compete in the Tour of Ulster and the Shay Elliott Memorial as a build up to starting An Post Rás on May 17th.
“As this is our third year riding the Rás, we will definitely be looking for a stage win,” said David Early, who will be working with the team. “I know that one of the guys has earmarked the first stage as a possibility and Anthony Murray is looking to improve on last year’s result. He is targeting a top ten overall in the GC (general classification).”
Murray finished 23rd overall last year and was also 7th overall in the Rás Mumhan.
The team will be led by the 2013 Sydney road champion Keegan Aitchison, who has ridden the race twice before.
2013 New Zealand Under-23 Road Champion, Richard Lawson is chasing a stage win in his Rás debut, while Dave Logue Classic winner, Daniel Molyneaux and Morgan Smith are also likely to be part of the line up.
Early says Smith has only been cycling for three years and describes him as ‘somewhat of a wild child,’ but points out that he finished sixth overall in this year’s Tour of New Zealand.
“You never really know which Morgan will turn up. He could do a Gary Thompson,” he said, referring to the former Irish Olympian and Rás runner-up, “and either tear your legs off, or lose twenty minutes and throw his bike into the ditch.”
The two teams will join the recently-announced Hrinkow Advarics CYcleanG squad in the race. That team will be led by last year’s race winner Clemens Fankhauser.
The 2015 An Post Rás will begin in Dunboyne on May 17th and will feature stage finishes in Carlow, Tipperary, Bearna, Newport, Ballina, Ballinamore, Drogheda and Skerries.
It will total almost 1200 kilometres in length and will include 21 categorised climbs.
Meanwhile the An Post-Chain Reaction-Sean Kelly team will be in action this Friday and Saturday (20-21st March) at the Handzame Classic (1.1) in Belgium and the Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports (1.1) in the Netherlands.
Talented rider Ryan Mullen will make a welcome return to competitive action in Flanders this Friday with the Irish based outfit. The twenty year old, who spent the past few weeks at a training camp in Spain following his UCI Track Cycling World Championships exploits, will join fellow Irish riders Jack Wilson and Conor Dunne in a strong eight-man team.
Manager Kurt Bogaerts has welcomed the return of Mullen to the team and says the race will be good preparation ahead of the Tour de Normandie (2.2) which starts on Monday (23rd March).
“It’s good to finally have Ryan back with us. His last outing was the Etoile de Besseges (2.1) at the beginning of February, so Friday’s race will serve him well ahead of Normandie. It will be a very flat race with some strong winds, so it should be a good test for him.”
Both Wilson and Dunne will also compete for the An Post team on Saturday. The Irish pair form part of an eight-man team which includes Lithuanian duo Aidis Kruopis and Paulius Siskevicius, Belgian riders Xandro Meurisse and Jens Vandenbogaerde, Great Britain’s Alistair Slater and Australia’s Jordan Stannus.
An Post Sean Kelly Chain Reaction Team for Handzame Classic (1.1), Friday 20th March
Ryan Mullen (IRL)
Conor Dunne (IRL)
Jack Wilson (IRL)
Aidis Kruopis (LTU)
Alistair Slater (GB)
Xandro Meurisse (BEL)
Jens Vandenbogaerde (BEL)
Jordan Stannus (AU)
An Post Sean Kelly Chain Reaction Team for Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports (1.1), Saturday 21st March
Conor Dunne (IRL)
Jack Wilson (IRL)
Aidis Kruopis (LTU)
Paulius Siskevicius (LTU)
Alistair Slater (GB)
Xandro Meurisse (BEL)
Jens Vandenbogaerde (BEL)
Jordan Stannus (AU)