|
Rás na mBan returns to Kilkenny in September and Ireland's international bike race for women has several exciting changes for the 19th edition of the race.
After four years of racing south from Kilkenny Castle to what often resulted in an exhilarating inclined sprint finish in the town of Callan, race directors have constructed an all-new opening stage to get the week’s racing underway.
The 2025 edition of the race features a brand new opening stage, ripe with new challenges and opportunities for riders wishing to make their mark on the opening day. Riders will depart Kilkenny heading North, passing through Freshford before riding towards Urlingford for the first intermediate sprint of the week and crossing the county lines into Tipperary shortly after.
The new route takes in just over 600m of climbing across 76.1km, with two Queen of the Mountain points opportunities at Kearney’s Hill and more formidably at Rathealy where the maximum gradient peaks at 8.3% within 6km of the finish line in the town of Freshford.
Stage two sees a return of last year’s Kilkenny to Gorey, while stage three returns to Laois where riders will be faced with the famous ‘The Cut’ climb in the Slieve Bloom Mountains before racing back to Mountrath.
Stage four is another Rás na mBan classic from recent years where returning riders will be familiar with the route. Action begins in Kilkenny before making its way to two assaults on the finishing climb of ‘The Rower’ via the beautiful villages of Thomastown and Inistioge.
Kilkenny City again plays host to the final day of racing, with two stages centring on the imposing edifice of Kilkenny Castle. Riders will face a 2.5km time trial around the walls of the castle as the specialists against the watch have an opportunity to offset the advantage enjoyed by the climbers on previous stages.
The final stage of the week is the hugely popular circuit race in Kilkenny City Centre, the fastest stage of the week. Stage six is approximately an hour and fifteen minutes of high octane city centre racing after which the champion of Rás na mBan 2025 will be crowned.
Speaking on the new stage, Deputy Race Director Ronan Fox said, “We’re excited to offer another new challenge for the 2025 race. This route has lots of scope for riders and teams to make an early impact on the race. While the route is similar in distance and elevation to the previous opening stage route, it has the potential to create quite a different race dynamic from previous years.
We’re delighted to be bringing Rás na mBan to the picturesque village of Freshford and the rolling terrain of west Kilkenny while also visiting Tipperary on the route. The route we have composed for 2025 is again designed to provide a real challenge for the riders while at the same time offering an opportunity for fans, riders and teams to further sample the epic beauty of Kilkenny and some of its surrounding counties.”
Full route details and map links for the 2025 Rás na mBan see below.
Note: Timing and route details remain provisional. See rasnamban.com for up to date details.
2025 Route
The route for the 19th edition of Rás na mBan includes six stages and five days of racing in early September.
Details with map links - click here