Rás Tailteann race director Ger Campbell has confirmed that this year’s race will indeed go ahead, with recent steps to find additional backing proving successful.
Campbell previously told The Irish Times in January that more needed to be done, even if he was optimistic that things would pan out.
“We are positive about it at the moment, feeling 90 per cent sure the race will go ahead, but watch this space” he said then. “We have meetings in the coming weeks which will be very important for us.”
Six weeks on, things are in a much better place.
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“One of our existing sponsors who sponsored one of the classifications last year has stepped up to yellow jersey sponsor for additional funding, allowing us to bridge the shortfall to a much lower amount,” he told The Irish Times on Monday evening. “It allows us to go ahead as planned and any additional funding that hopefully comes in will allow us to add to the event as we have cut back on some areas to make the sums add up.
“The most important thing for us all along was that the safety element and policing etc was not compromised.”
It is not yet clear who the sponsor in question is. Last year City Break Apartments, Spin 11, Bective Stud and FBD Insurance backed various classifications, while Cycling Ireland sponsored the general classification and mountains competition. Campbell said previously that Cycling Ireland would have less of an input this time around.
The news will come as a relief to both Irish riders and those from abroad. While the race is not currently a UCI world ranked event, it plays a very important role on the calendar for many British teams, as well as those from further afield. The race organising committee Cáirde Rás Tailteann have had a very strong interest from overseas and will now be able to confirm to those teams that the race will indeed happen.
This year’s race is listed on Cycling Ireland’s calendar between May 17th and 21st. Campbell has confirmed that the route will be made public later this week.
Daire Feeley (All Human/Velo Revolution) won the event last year, beating Briton Louis Sutton (Brocar-Ale) to become the first Irish champion in 14 years. Four of the five stages were won by Irish riders – Matthew Teggart (Cycling Ulster), Adam Ward (Ireland), Rory Townsend (Ireland) and Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing).
