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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COUNTY RIDERS
By email to IrishCycling.com
24 Apr 2008,
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(24 Apr) Reader Reply:
Editor,
Just a few thoughts and comments on the debate on county riders in the Ras.
Firstly, hello to my former Ras team-mate Stephen Delaney and former number one rival Claude Costelloe! Enjoyed your letters, they brought back some great memories.
The Ras - where will I start. Rode my first one in 1975 and my last in 1994, so experienced lots of different Rasanna, from the old county rider dominated ones to the Russians to the great Italian team of 1992, still the best team to ever compete in a Ras. I fully admit that it was easier for county riders to get some success in those decades than it is now, but for me success was not what the Ras was all about.
As a county rider working full time, riding the Ras made me feel like a pro for one week of the year. I lived for that week, gave six months preparing for it and six months recovering after it !.I loved every minute of it, the camaraderie, eating and sleeping cycling, the tactics, the battle for the county team prize. That was a big thing with us on the Tipperary team, the county team prize and some average county riders rode out of their skin to try and win that award for our team. They were not finishing in the front groups, but they were thrilled if they were the vital "third man" on the stage.
Is that gone out of the Ras now? Do the county teams have the team prize as a major target? If they don't, I think they should have and it would really give them something to ride for. I know cycling can be focussed very much on the individual, but just look at the GAA and the pride and passion they have in their county teams and county jerseys. Can the Ras and Irish cycling tap into some of that? Is there anything Dermot Dignam could do to lift the profile of the county team award and give it more attention with the national media, and then have the GAA county fan cheering for his Ras team as well? Maybe that is pie in the sky but I think its time to try something on the county team situation, otherwise the Ras with the average county standard rider is going to die, and that would be a great shame.
A final comment - most people say that the Ras is too hard now for county riders now, but in the eighteen I rode I don't remember an easy one !!
Mise le meas
Bobby Power
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(22 Apr) Reader Reply:
Editor,
I think this current debate on county riders in the Ras is very intriguing with recent contributions from former winner Stephen Delaney and current Ras rider Greg Swinand, who finished an excellent 9th in last Sundays Elliot.
Having ridden the Ras a number of times in the 80's with some modest stage results including one podium placing, I am more familiar with the Ras of that era than today. However, as I was also lucky enough to have ridden a few international stage races, but spent most of the week admiring the rear wheel of riders such as Bjarne Riis (Tour of Luxembourg 1984 and 1985) and Erick Bruekink (Ruben 1985), I can also say I have some experience of some of the high quality international racing that the Ras has now become.
While I enjoyed any international race I rode, I can’t say I would have looked forward to spending the 9 days of my national tour spending the first 50 miles eating Mars bars and the last 50 miles eating Cinelli bars!
Most of today’s average county riders have grown up with the current format and know no different, but top riders like Brian Kenneally and Timmy Barry would probably have won a Ras by now had they been riding under the old format.
The sheer unpredictability of the Ras is reduced now with the advent of the very strong Pro teams. The previous Rasanna could have riders moving from first to twenty first in one stage and many good calibre county riders winning stages. The 1984 version won in superb style by Stephen Delaney, had stage wins by Dermot Gilleran (2), Seamus Downey, John Short, Gearoid Costelloe and John McQuaid among others. The Jersey was held by Dermot Gilleran, Seamus Downey and Bobby Power before Stephen Delaney took it after a brilliant stage into Mallow where the bunch lost 10 mins. In fact one county rider in that break went from 60th to 10th overall in one stage but lost out in Wicklow on the Saturday. I can’t see the current format creating that situation for any county rider as the strong Pro Teams would not allow it.
In any Ras the top riders will always emerge, but along the route the county rider should be able to compete and have a realistic chance of making it onto the podium at a stage finish.
I saw a recent Ras stage into Templemore (I think 2 – 3 years ago), I watched the bunch go through a climb at Rearcross, lined out in horrific weather. As I drove back down the climb I came across a group of about 10 riders, some 20 mins down containing some well know competitive riders, all clad in capes, gloves and over shoes. Apart from the numbers on the frames they looked like a group out on a winter spin, I can’t see that being of any benefit to them or the race.
The Ras is an outstanding experience for any cyclist and it has been back boned for the past 50 years by the county rider, but sadly I think the current format has them only making up the numbers. While some riders may be content to do that for the sheer experience of the event, it was so much more rewarding for the county rider under the old format.
Claude Costelloe
Limerick
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(21 Apr) Reader Reply:
Dear Editor
Google "Rás Tailteann" and on the first page of results is
“COALISLAND CYCLIST WINS ‘THOUGHEST’ STAGE IN THE RAS TAILTEANN” –
screamed the newspaper headlines in August 1958 after local cyclist Seamus Devlin claimed victory in the toughest stage of the 8-day Rás Tailteann.
followed by a b&w photo of 4 riders and their manager. It may be a faded black and white image but I will guess its a red and white jersey that would have been instantly recognizable to any spectator as would the jerseys of any rider in the race.
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Now apologies in advance if I wander in my points and for using the term "average cyclist”, riders for whom I have the utmost respect, true part timers who love the sport more than I ever could.
Greg makes the point that county riders have done alright over the past few years. However despite being out of the sport for years I know all those names and all would have been on any shortlist to win any race they turned up to. Hardly average county riders.
1997 was the last time a county rider won the Ras. Up till then it was a quite regular and this is probably because of the level of control over the race as Claude said. I don't think this affects the chances of top county riders winning stages and getting decent overall results but it certainly changes the race for those in the middle of the bunch.
Compare a 150km stage of today and 20 years ago. Today a small group goes away early on, gets 2 minutes, but in the bunch there is no panic. The pro teams are quite happy to leave it there for 100km and then start to reel it in over the closing kilometres. This has the average rider still with the pros when the pace is going up and he is already out of his comfort zone. And because it is a wind up of the pace he is able to hang on longer but suffer for it. 20 years ago after the first break went there was chaos as everyone looked to see who was left behind.
There would never have been more than 2 teams with the manpower to hold a break for the day and the chances of them getting together would be slim. So the counter attacks begin early in the day and the speed yo-yos instead of being constant. This leads to splits everywhere and groups making their way to the finish at their own pace. The average rider still has a hard day but the worst of the racing was done when he was strongest, at the start, rather than at his weakest as in todays wind up last hour and a half.
But thats not the real story. How long is it since you could look at the front page and ask yourself “ How did he get there”. Time was that was every year. Few riders ever start knowing they can win a Rás but there was a time when every rider started knowing that with luck they might get into a couple of breaks early on and hang in when things settled down, and if the gods were smiling on them they might get into that magical 20 minute break and be in the top 10 for a few days. And the kids on the school wall might see their county jersey pass by in front.
I am not saying we have to go back to the good old days or everything was perfect back then. But I do know that when there is not as much money around, the Ras is going to need the kids who were inspired by seeing the man in the jersey they wear every week go by in front. When I won the Rás for a Dublin team we went back to the Aisling hotel, split the money, shared out the jerseys and went home for tea. 2 years later I was invited onto the Tipperary team to help Stephen Spratt and I saw men crying in the street when he won it. For the race to prosper into the future it must remain relevant to the people in the small towns and villages. Without them you have nothing. I turned the corner onto Patrick's hill in the first Nissan to be greeted by a wall of noise. Watching on TV last year I could hear the individual hand claps.
Stephen Delaney
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(18 Apr) Readers Replies:
Editor,
OK, it’s late, it’s Friday and I just can’t do anymore work; so i’ll just have to pipe into this debate!
With all due respect to the previous writers, I think they haven’t been following the Ras close enough.
While true, the standard is higher, and guys who work are more likely to get a pasting, there are loads of talented and dedicated guys who’ve done great stuff recently.
Guys like Brian Kenneally won two stages last year and will help you with your bike if you stop by the shop in Dungarvan; guys like Tim Barry were a fine 5th and best county rider a few years back; guys like Simon Kelly came within a hair of winning the final stage (although that year he was full time), but in previous years he’d been 2nd and just missed out on stage wins; guys like Phil Cassidy won a stage and CRUSHED the pros at over age 40 not too long ago. Tommy Evans almost won one stage, took the yellow jersey, and finished 4th overall and 4th on the final stage two years ago (and this was after he’d retired from full time racing); and i think Brian Ahern, who can be seen riding home from the bank in the evenings here in Dublin was second on a stage in more than one occasion. And who could forget Bill Moore’s win on the final stage of the last Ras to finish in the Park? All these were “true” county riders in my book.
I could go on and on, and this doesn’t mention the days average riders were in the break all day, or came 5th, etc.
In addition, there is the county rider stage and overall and team prizes, that the county teams are very keen on.
The new Tour of Ireland is not the Ras, and hasn’t and won’t replace it, but it doesn’t mean the Ras should be downgraded. If guys want to do a stage Rás with fewer international competitors, then Ras Connachta or other such are out there (looking for riders last year).
Essentially, it’s a balance. There are guys who love the Ras because it is the only chance they’ll get to ride a race of that standard. And it is probably a unique opportunity for some B riders in that regard. Also, the Ras is known worldwide as a tough race with an international standard. The Rás is in general too tough for me, but I wouldn’t want the format to change radically. I work and have only been able to do two rasanna.
All the best and keep following the Ras!
Greg Swinand
Sorry, i left out Roger Aiken!
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Editor,
Just a reply to your letter on the County Teams in the Ras: as someone who rode the Ras many times in the 80’s, the county Team was a feature of many a Ras and the highlight of most county rider’s season. One Ras that sticks out is the 1984 version, won by Stephen Delaney, which had a week of superb racing among mainly county riders, with many ‘regular’ Ras riders winning stages and getting a chance to wear the coveted Yellow Jersey during the week.
The current Ras is more along the lines of the old Milk Race or even the Nissan with Pro Teams dominating all the racing , resulting is some regular bunch finishes, unlike the previous Rasanna where some stages resembled a plane crash with small groups of riders scattered across the entire route.
There is no doubt that the current format makes for a race of a higher standard but what chance does a guy working 9 – 5 have of being competitive in an international race starting in May, 6 weeks after the clocks go back? In addition, what benefit is it to a county rider to spend 7 days in the gutter and never even make it up the road not to mind get a placing in the top ten!
The new ‘Tour of Ireland’ is really the place for the Pro Teams with maybe a strong Irish section on a National team riding the Ras along with the regular County rider.
While Dermot Dignam has done an outstanding job in developing the Ras into a first class international stage race with a place in the UCI calendar, there needs to be a place for the true amateur to compete among their peers and experience the thrill of a Ras placing or stage win, which sadly many of the current riders will never see with the current format.
Claude Costelloe
Limerick
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(16 Apr) Original Letter:
Dear Editor,
I am writing as a long time follower of Irish cycling and have to say that the sport is so much different than a few decades ago. There was a time when the Ras Tailteann was a very popular event with the ordinary people, hundreds of them not involved with cycling clubs.
God be with the days when men like Gene Mangan, Ben McKenna, Paddy Flanagan and Shay O'Hanlon were 'kings of the Irish roads.' Those men represented their clubs and counties with so much pride and their achievements were an inspiration to many.
But sadly clubs seem to be an antique item in Irish cycling these days. When reading the cycling results in the Monday papers one is left with question marks dangling in the air, wondering where the cyclists are actually from.
' Mickey Finn of Team Joe Bloggs outsprinted the field to take first place in the tour of the West' is along the lines of what we read now. Okay, times change but cycling and basketball are two sports who have bent down to the sponsors more than others.
There should still be a place for true amateurs in cycling and while this writer is looking at the sport from afar these days (especially with his local club more interested in shaking buckets in front of people for this worthy cause and that worthy cause) than the racing side of the sport, perhaps there should be prizes for the first club riders in open races!
Noel Coogan,
Navan, Co Meath
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