CYCLING: Team Ireland leaders Ciarán Power and David O'Loughlin have both expressed their confidence with their preparations in advance of the FBD Milk Rás, which starts in Dublin this Sunday.

The US-based professionals have both completed several tough races on the American circuit in recent weeks, most notably the Tour of Georgia, and after tapering off in their training are happy that they should be in prime condition for the eight-day Irish tour.

Power, who won the race in 1998 and 2002, and O'Loughlin will be joined by Andrew Donnellan, Vincent Gleeson and the French-based 1996 winner Tommy Evans on the team and can go into the race confident that theirs will be one of the strongest squads in the race.

In addition, both leaders have shown some promising form this season and should be in the thick of the hunt for stage wins and the yellow jersey.

Power overcame early problems with injury to land high placings in the Ronde Van Drenthe, the Grote Scheldeprijs and the Settimana Ciclista Internazionale, as well as playing a vital role in big successes for his Navigators team.

Ofoto-Lombardi Sports professional David O'Loughlin has thrived despite being largely limited to domestic racing in the early part of the season.

He took six dominant wins in Irish races, but it was his excellent victory in the world-ranked Archer Grand Prix at the end of March which illustrate his FBD Milk Rás potential.

So too his strong showing in the 2.3 ranked Tour of Georgia last month, where the 25-year-old finished 16th overall in America's premier professional stage race.

Now both fully recovered after recent intense racing programmes, Power and O'Loughlin will be keen to take the fight to the intimidating line-up of foreign teams in the race.

Leading the charge will be the Great Britain squad of Paul Manning and the world points race champion Chris Newton. Manning won the 2001 edition of the race and took a stage last year, while 12 months ago Newton held yellow, landed three stage wins and carried off the points jersey in a most impressive display.

He will be gunning to improve on his runner-up position of 2002.

A total of four professional teams will be taking part and of these the Bianchi-Scandinavia team look to be the biggest threat. Former top professional Tommy Prim is managing this squad of promising young riders, among them Circuit des Ardennes winner Thomas Lövkvist and Jonas Holmkvist, who won two stages plus the overall in the recent 2.5 Ringerike Grand Prix.

Prim will have the experience and tactical nous to ensure that theirs is a signification challenge. The HSBC South Africa team have won stages and the mountains jersey in the past, while the Sportsbook.com and Team Down Under are travelling from American and Australia respectively in the hunt for glory.

Other likely challengers are the national team from Kazakhstan and the Lancaster Life Repair Group squad, led by John Tanner and Mark Lovatt who between them have won a stage and held the yellow jersey in the race.

Also capable of winning overall is the former Tour of Spain points winner Malcolm Elliott, who is showing promising form in his competitive comeback this year.

Factor in the other strong riders from home and abroad and the field is clearly a volatile mix. The tough route will also do much to ensure a fiery contest, with hard roads, long stages, strong winds and two excruciating days in the Donegal mountains all stirring things up nicely.

The FBD Milk Rás starts outside Dublin's GPO on Sunday and 1,150 hard-fought kilometres later, will conclude in the verdant surroundings of the Phoenix Park. Expect fierce attacks, flat-out racing and fireworks all the way.

Stage 1, Sunday, May 18th, Dublin - Roscrea. 135 kms.

Stage 2, Monday, 19th, Roscrea - Clifden. 188 kms.

Stage 3, Tuesday, 20th, Clifden - Ballina, 142 kms.

Stage 4, Wednesday, 21st, Ballina - Letterkenny, 173 kms.

Stage 5, Thursday, 22nd, Letterkenny - Buncrana. 146 kms

Stage 6, Friday, 23rd, Buncrana - Donegal, 167 kms.

Stage 7, Saturday, 24th, Donegal - Oldcastle. 180 kms

Stage 8, Sunday, 25th Phoenix Park circuit, 40 kms.