Cycling Column: The most important one-day race in Ireland outside of the national championships takes place this Sunday with the holding of the Shay Elliott Memorial in Wicklow. Dedicated to the memory of Ireland's first Tour de France yellow jersey holder, the 160-kilometre 1.5-ranking event will see a quality field slug it out over the climbs of Wicklow.
Over 140 riders have signed up for the race, with 25 travelling from abroad in search of the world-ranking points on offer. These foreign challengers include the 2002 winner Mark Lovatt and his Planet X team-mates John Tanner and Kevin Dawson, plus former Tour of Spain points winner Malcolm Elliot and the 2000 FBD Milk Rás champion Julian Winn. The foreign challenge is further bolstered by riders from The Netherlands, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and England.
The experienced internationals David O'Loughlin, David McCann, Denis Lynch, Eugene Moriarty and Tommy Evans are the most likely of the home riders to challenge for honours. The Hibernian Team Ireland national selection of Richie Cahill, Mark Cassidy, Michéal Concannon and Conor Murphy will also be amongst the aggressors.
The Murphy and Gunn-sponsored race will start at the Bray Town Hall at 10.30, the riders racing down through Rathdrum, Avoca, Woodenbridge and Arklow before hitting the steep climb of the Old Wicklow Gap. The main battle will be fought out on the slopes of the Glenmalure/Drumgoff climb up to the Elliott monument, with the riders racing back from there to a new finish on Bray seafront.
One rider who will be missing from the race is Paul Griffin. He was due to take part but has been invited by the British Recycling.co.uk/MG XPower pro team to race in the Tour of Crete, starting today, and next week's 2.5 ranked Tour of Greece.
In other news, the experienced riders Huw Pritchard and Anthony Malarczyk will lead a strong Wales-Stena Line selection in this year's FBD Milk Rás, which starts on Saturday, May 23rd, in Dublin. They will be part of an impressive field which will include professional and international riders from around the world.
FBD Milk Rás race director Dermot Dignam this week hailed Stena Line's continued association with the race, both as sponsor of the Wales team and also as maritime transport provider for the foreign teams. "Their backing is very important and much appreciated," he said.
There was an encouraging turnout on Wednesday evening for the first round of the Women's Boot Inn league, won by Siobhan Jacob.
Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong showed yesterday that he is right on track in his preparations for this year's Tour de France when he won the third stage of the Tour de Georgia in America. Surprisingly, the Texan's win came in a sprint finish with Armstrong getting the verdict over specialist Ivan Dominguez in the downhill charge to the line. Ireland's Ciarán Power was 12th.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday: John Beggs Memorial, Dromore. Starts noon. Clifden Grand Prix, first event starts 9 a.m. MTB Orienteering event, Carrick Mountain, Glenealy. Starts noon.
Sunday: Shay Elliott Memorial, Bray. Starts 10.30. Bill Hyland Memorial, Clonmel. Starts noon. Dundalk Traders Cup, Dundalk. Underage at noon, main race at 1 p.m.
