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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
TOUR OF ULSTER STARTS NEXT WEEK
By Paul Nugent, PRO, Tour of Ulster
24 Apr 2010,
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With 1 week to go to this year’s Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council Tour of Ulster. The field is now complete. Twenty teams have entered, along with individual entries.
Winner of the recent Tour of the North, Philip Lavery (Cycling Ulster Slane Cycles) Curran Racing must line up as favourite, alongside Timmy Barry (Isle of Man-Micro Gaming Team) the winner of the Ras Mumhan in Kerry, Barry is also a former double winner of the Tour of Ulster (2001 & 2003). Two other former Tour of Ulster Race winners are in the line-up, 2007 winner Ryan Connor (Usher) and 1997 winner Stephen O'Sullivan (Engraveit.ie). Two Former Ras winners are also in the field this year, 1997 winner Andrew Roche (Motorpoint Marshalls Pasta Team) and 2008 winner Stephen Gallagher (Cycling Ulster Slane Cycles), winner of the recent Wallace Caldwell Memorial Classic.
In this year’s event is Malcolm Elliott (Motorpoint Marshalls Pasta Team). A former Commonwealth Games Road Race Champion in Brisbane, Australia in 1982, 3rd in the 1987 edition of the Amstel Gold Race in Netherlands, stage winner in the 1989 Vuelta a Espana and points jersey winner. Also riding is Steven Burke (Motorpoint Marshalls Pasta Team), bronze medallist in the 4000m Individual pursuit, in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Riders in form at the moment and looking for strong performance are Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles) who has won Round 2 of Irish National Classic League Series – Des Hanlon Trophy, Stamullen Grand Prix, Ben McKenna Memorial Cup, Cycleways Cup and John Moore Memorial Road. Other riders in form include last year’s runner up Thomas Martin (Eurocycles) winner of the Annaclone Grand Prix. Sean Lacey (The Edge Sports Team) who won Round 1 of Irish National Classic League Series – John Deere Four Masters trophy, The Lacey Cup and Mick Cahill Memorial. Neil Delahaye (Usher), winner of Stage 3 in the Ras Mumhan in Kerry. Roger Aiken (Planet X), winner of the Ciclisport Grand Prix and John Beggs Memorial. Conor Murphy (Eurocycles), winner of the Tour of Ards. Martyn Irvine (Planet X), winner of last year’s Tour of the North and King of the Hills in this year’s Tour of the North. Martyn also was a stage winner in last year’s Tour of Ulster and Glen Kinning (East Antrim Audi), winner of the P.J. Logan Cup.
The first stage of this year’s tour from Dungannon to Dungannon is a difficult stage. With the stage length just over 91 miles and also five climbs to get over. The stage starts from Dungannon Leisure Centre and passes through Coalisland, Stewartstown, Tullyhogue, Cookstown, Pomeroy towards the first climb of the day, which at 31 miles of racing outside Ballygawley and is a Category 1 climb, the race then passes through Ballygawley, followed by a category 3 climb at 38 miles and a Category 1 climb at 53 miles on route to Fivemiletown and Augher, another climb at 77 miles a Category 3, on route to Eglish. The final climb of the day, a Category 3 climb at just 7 miles from the finish at Dungannon Park, Dungannon.
The second stage from Dungannon to Dungannon is a very tough stage. The stage starts from Dungannon Park and with the stage length just over 92 miles and also three climbs. The race passes through Killyman, Portadown, Lurgan and Aghagallon towards the first climb comes at 28 miles a Category 3 climb, just after Aghalee. The race then heads to Ballinderry Lower, Antrim and Randalstown, and the next climb at 60 miles and is a Category 2 climb. The race heads towards Toome, Ballyronan, Coagh and Coalisland and into Dungannon with the finish a Category 1 climb in Dungannon.
Stage three is a 1.5 miles Individual Time Trial on the Sylers Road, Dungannon. The stage will be for the time trial specialist, on a flat course.
The final stage from Dungannon to Dungannon is 10 laps of a 6.7 mile circuit. The stage also starts from Dungannon Leisure Centre with three climbs on the stage and just under 70 miles.
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