DIGEST: CYCLING: One week before the start of the FBD Milk Rás, the Team Ireland - Stena Line squad has been hit by the news that one of the team's strongest riders has been forced to pull out of the race. Former world junior champion Mark Scanlon had suffered with tendonitis since the recent Circuit Des Mines pro-am event and despite a period of rest, his ankle has flared up again.
His place on the team is to be taken up by Dermot Nally, another 21-year- old who is in impressive form this year. Nally has taken three wins in Italian events, including a stage of the Giro d'Abruzzo last week, and should perform well in the pro-am FBD Milk Rás.
'It is a big pity about Mark,' said Team Ireland manager Declan Byrne yesterday. "He had big hopes for the race but despite taking ten days off the bike, the problem flared up again on Friday. Fortunately his replacement Dermot Nally is in great shape this year, and I think he will prove to be a valuable contributor to the squad next week."
Meanwhile, the leader of the Team Ireland quintet has received a timely boost to his confidence before the race. Twelve months after he broke his collarbone in the same event, Navigators professional Ciarán Power placed an excellent fifth in the bunch sprint which decided the third stage of the prestigious four Days of Dunkirk. The result is his best since taking two top ten placings on stages of the Tour of Italy in 2000.
Dublin team Usher IRC will also go into the round Ireland race on a high, after dominating yesterday's Noel Hammond Memorial in Ballyboughil. The club made up half the riders in a ten man breakaway which went clear on the third of seven laps, and capitalised on this numerical advantage on the run-in to the finish.
Paul Healion jumped clear with about five miles to go and rode strongly from there to resist the pursuit of Stephen O'Sullivan (Naas Fig Roll), Willy Byrne (Hillcrest) and Joe Fenlon (Dan Morrissey's). Healion's team-mates Colm Bracken and Dave Peelo then slipped clear close to the line, completing a rare sweep of the podium positions in the Classic League event.
ROWING: Blind oarsman Mark Pollock and his Lady Elizabeth team-mate Brendan Smyth travelled to the Ghent regatta hoping to show they were worth their place on the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games squad and they surely did their hopes no harm by winning the lightweight pairs final yesterday.
Another remarkable Irish winner was Robert Cronin of Presentation College, Cork, who was first home of 36 in the junior men's single scull. The junior men's eight of St Joseph's, Galway, also won.
In an extremely strong men's senior eight, Neptune could only manage fourth and the club's coxed four finished third. On Saturday the eight failed to make the final, and the four had finished second to Leander.
Commercial's lightweight single sculler Becky Quinn sent out the right message with a win in her final on Saturday, and Timmy Harnedy won the equivalent men's event.
There were also good second placings for Tribesmen's lightweight pair of Paul Hornibrooke and Gerry Griffin, Commercial's junior double of Nessa Ronayne and Gina O'Brien and Neptune's junior pair of Aodhán Kelly and Martin Walsh.
