Brian Canty
Sean Lacey (Dan Morrissey/Speedy Spokes)
The defending champion said recently his winter was disrupted by illness in January. But since then the Tralee native has slipped into the groove like only he knows how. His early season form is again right on cue and he seems to have timed his preparation to perfection for his first big goal of the year. His fourth Lacey Cup title opened his season account, while a few top 10 placings in Balbriggan, Carlow and Limerick recently indicate that he’s in good condition. But with the burden of the number one race number on his back, could it prove too much? Everyone will be stuck to Lacey’s wheel and he knows that. But he will definitely be in the GC shake-up come next Monday, if not collecting a stage win as well.
Ryan Sherlock (Cycleways)
The tall climber isn’t hard to spot in the peloton. He’ll be the only one wearing a Cycleways jersey, he’ll probably be at the head of the race, and his profile is very distinctive; all six-foot plus of him. Sherlock takes training to new levels and his scientific approach has reaped rich dividends already this year with wins in the Wallace Caldwell and Lucan GP. Crucially, both of those races were shredded to pieces after cross-winds hammered the peloton – which is likely to happen this weekend in Kerry. More recently, he was edged out in the Des Hanlon in Carlow by a flying Peter Hawkins. The powerful Sherlock is a brilliant climber and his hours spent in the Dublin Mountains are obvious. He finished sixth overall here in 2010 and came second on the Connor Pass stage last year, as well as taking seventh overall. But he could well push much higher this year.
Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles)
Has chosen races closer to home that clashed with Rás Mumhan in recent years but announced his arrival on the domestic scene for 2012 last weekend with two brilliant wins. On Saturday he was victorious in the Tour of Ards while 24 hours later he took the Ben McKenna on his own, beating no less than Peter Hawkins, David McCann, Mark Dowling and Greg Swinand.
After the race he told stickybottle that he is going to Rás Mumhan as part of a strong five-man team (Conor Murphy and Thomas Martin are both worthy of the contender tag too) and not just to make up the numbers. He was the highest placed county rider on GC in the An Post Rás last year, finishing a highly impressive 22nd place and that ability to hold up over a testing stage race will be crucial. He is my tip to win a stage and make it into the top three at least come Monday.
Tim Barry (Dan Morrissey/Speedy Spokes)
The 2010 champion is also looking like an ominous threat and has also tasted success this year when he won a difficult race in Broadford in March by an impressive margin. Barry has experience and plenty of it. He destroyed the opposition when he won two years ago – his nearest challenger come the finish was over three minutes back and he has made no secret of his affection for this race. Though he says his big target is the An Post Rás in May, he has the horse-power to challenge anyone here. Last year he could have won the difficult third stage into Waterville but paid for his exertions on the run-in to the finish which paved the way for Paul Griffin to win. Barry gets in the breaks, is a loyal team-mate and knows how to read a race. The latter characteristic will be crucial again as the first day is when the race isn’t won, but when it is lost by many. Barry won’t be in the latter category barring a disaster.
Bram Imming (Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam)
How on earth this man lost the race last year is still the question many people in Irish cycling ask themselves. Not to take away from Lacey’s win, but the trophy and the jersey were as good as in the car boot and on the way back to Holland when the Tralee man burgled his way in and kept the honours at home for an eighth year in-a-row. Imming finished fifth overall after he somehow missed the crucial split on the final day when 30 riders broke off the front of the peloton. Though he rode his socks off, as did his team, to bring it back, they were fighting a lost cause. They’d been immense all weekend with Wouter Haan taking the opening stage, Leon Burger taking the Connor Pass stage, and Imming never too far away from the front. But when it mattered most, he was nowhere to be seen and the sight of him slumped on the street in Killorglin last year is my abiding memory of the race. But if he shows similar form this time around he definitely will not be too far away from stage and overall honours.
Neil Delahaye (DID Dunboyne)
Any man who rides away from a star-studded front group and wins alone on the Waterville stage must be given respect and the DID Dunboyne rider will be a watched man this year again. Delahaye was eighth on a stage in 2010, won that fabulous leg into Waterville the same year and finished third overall behind Tim Barry and Wim Botman (Midi centre Ruiter Wielerteam).
Last year he was part of the breakaway on the opening stage that finished two and a half minutes ahead of the peloton. He was seventh on the Connor Pass stage, 11th on the Waterville stage he won the year before and third overall, having been in that miracle group on the final day that escaped the clutches of the yellow jersey. Just 51 seconds was all that stood between Lacey and Delahaye by the finish so with a stronger team behind him this year, expect Delahaye to challenge for a first ever yellow jersey.
Andrew Roche (Isle of Man)
Roche has had a solid career which included three seasons, one as a pro and two as an amateur, racing in Belgium in the 1990s. He is a good all-rounder, a fact proven by victory in the FBD Rás in 1997, a win in the Shay Elliot Memorial in 2006 and a victory in the Isle of Man Mountain TT in 2004 when he beat Stuart Dangerfield. Though he is now almost 40 years old, he still has plenty of thread left on the tyre, as evidenced by his ride here last year when he was second to Páidí O’Brien on the final stage, though a disappointing 26th overall. That latter finishing position won’t fool anyone though and with a strong team in Elliott Baxter, Aaron Livsey, Graeme Hatcher and Darren Bell, it’s quite likely they’ll have one, if not two GC contenders, with Roche the most likely of the lot.
Páidí O’Brien (Dan Morrissey/Speedy Spokes)
The final part of his Cork team’s three-pronged attack is the pocket-rocker sprinter with continental racing experience from his days with the An Post Sean Kelly team. O’Brien, now back in college in CIT, is bang on form and won last weekend’s Silver Pail GP in Cork with a trademark finishing kick. He won the final stage of this race last year but could if allowed seek more than that this weekend. The Banteer sprinter has a phenomenal pedigree – finishing second in the An Post Rás some years back. He is still only 27, he can climb and he can sprint. He can win Rás Mumhan.
Robbert Jan Mol (West Frisia)
The Dutch rider is a better sprinter than he is a climber and that might work against him pushing for the overall. But if he’s in the decisive breaks on the opening days, he could pose a serious threat. He won the opening stage in 2010, came second to Neil Delahaye on the stage to Waterville and finished 20th overall. Last year he was third on both the third and final stages and though he only finished a lowly 51st overall on GC he only turns 24 in July. Whether he has improved his climbing in the past year remains to be seen. But if he has he’ll be a contender for stage wins at the very least and possibly the GC. He could also prove a useful foil for his team mate Tino Haakman.
Tino Haakman (West Frisia)
Probably the most distinctive guy in the peloton with those long straw-coloured strands of curly hair, Haakman was unlucky he came up against Paul Griffin when the race came down to a sprint on last year’s third stage into Waterville. Griffin wasn’t going to be denied with a home support roaring him on but Haakman won a lot of respect that day for his aggressive riding. He was the highest placed West Frisia rider on GC come Monday, in ninth, with stage placings of 19th, 14thand 2nd. But missing the decisive move on Monday’s stage cost him a place in the top five. He will be up there again and has Silvan Buis and Sven van der Meer on domestic duty.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/JZ7EEyUk1PQ/post.aspx
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