CYCLING:Irish professional Philip Deignan will make his Grand Tour debut this weekend, starting the three week Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) tomorrow.
The race begins with a 146.4 kilometre stage starting and finishing in Vigo, home to the 2006 Tour de France star Oscar Pereiro. Unlike traditional Vueltas, the race hits the high mountains early, with Tuesday's summit finish to Lagos de Covadonga likely to give an early indication of who is going well.
Deignan is a strong climber but is still building form after two seasons affected by illness and injury. The Ag2r Prévoyance rider lost out on much of 2006 with glandular fever but demonstrated his high-mountain ability with second place on one of the toughest stages of the Tour de l'Avenir.
He has had a patchy season again this year because of injury but has been racing consistently since the Polynormande on August 5th. Taking part in the Deutschland Tour and the Tour of Ireland has helped him build fitness, and pulling out of the latter event two days before the end with a stomach complaint should ensure he has had adequate rest before the start of the tour. He will aim to continue building form, complete the race and post a good showing on one or more stages.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the Tour of Ireland have expressed satisfaction with the running of the 2.1-ranked race. The Belgian Stijn Vandenberg (Unibet.com) won the event last Sunday, with Irish road race champion David O'Loughlin (Navigators Insurance) taking a strong third on the final stage.
"Overall, we are very happy," said the event director, Alan Rushton. "It has been a very competitive race, we are happy with the way the country has received the event again and we are pleased with the television coverage that has come out of it.
"It is clear (the main sponsor) Fáilte Ireland appears to be very happy with what they have got and we will now look at further building the race."
Project director Darach McQuaid said after the final stage, "We are very, very happy. We have already had early word on some of the viewership figures on RTÉ and we believe they were very strong."
FIXTURES: Saturday: Beachmount Cup, Kilmessan, starts 4pm.
Sunday: Adare two-day, Adare. Stage one at 4pm. Epic Blast, Wicklow - details from Ross McClure at 086 2300950. Collins/Christle Memorial, Kilmessan, 2pm. Leinster Youth RR championships, Kilmessan, noon. Ulster veteran and junior championships, Ligoniel road/Belfast road, 10am. Crumlin Grand Prix, Ligoniel road/Belfast road, 10am.
