Tinkoff to challenge for Tour of Ireland victory

Posted in: Tour of Ireland
By Gerry McManus, Press Officer Tour of Ireland
Jul 23, 2008 - 8:38:00 PM

Tinkoff Credit Systems (Russia), MTN Energade (South Africa) and Team Type 1 (USA) are the latest of the teams to be announced for the Tour of Ireland professional cycle race sponsored by Failte Ireland which starts at Grand Canal Square in Dublin's Docklands on 27th August.

Tinkoff Credit Systems are sending a balanced team of experienced professionals and young talent and are intent on challenging for overall victory in the five day race. Italian Alberto Loddo heads to Ireland with stage victories in the Tours of Qatar, Langkawi and Settimana Ciclista Lombardia under his belt this year. Columbian Walter Pedraza has been very successful on the South American continent before moving onto the European circuit this year. Pedraza made it onto the podium in Columbia, Chile and Venezuela last year and has shown his wide ranging physical abilities by winning the prologue of the Classica Independencia Ciudad de Flandes and finishing second on the mountainous Genting Highlands stage of the Tour of Langkawi.

Sergey Klimov is a vastly experienced track and road professional. He is a former junior track cycling world champion and multiple Track World Cup medalist. He rode with the team in the Giro d'Italia this year and took the bronze medal in the Russian national road race championships. The professional continental team has big plans for next year and will want to continue their successful run this season that includes two stage victories in the Giro d'Italia.

The MTN Energade team heads to Ireland for the first time although Neil MacDonald has previously ridden in the FBD Ras and will know what to expect. The South African team has been hugely successful over recent years with major victories in the Tour of Morocco and Giro del Capo. David George will take up the captaincy of the team when the race leaves Dublin having just returned from the Beijing Olympics riding for South Africa. George has had a long and successful cycling career and is a five time South African time trial champion. He won the Tour of Langkawi in 2006 and is a triple winner of the Giro del Capo in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Waylon Woolcock is the team climber and 2007 winner of the Tour of Egypt and the Jock Cycle Classic. Woolcock's endurance ability may help him find the power needed to launch a stage winning move on the steep climbs on the city circuit on the last tough stage into Cork. 19-year-old Bradley Potgieter looks like he will have a bright future in cycling following a successful 2007 season where he won the South Africa junior road race and time trial titles. Mountain biker Kevin Evans will be switching his talents to road racing following his recent appearance in the World MTB Marathon Championships where he finished 14th. The current South African mountain bike champion will enjoy the tough hilly stages in the counties of Kerry, Galway and Mayo.

The newly formed Team Type 1 squad from America has a number of notable riders travelling across to Ireland. Glen Chadwick is a former New Zealand time trial champion who powered his way to two stage victories in the Tour de Beauce in Canada last year. Fabio Calabria is one for the four squad riders with Type 1 Diabetes. The 21-year-old is a at home on the slopes and won the mountains competition in the Tour de Bortoli last year, finishing third overall.

Ukrainian Valeriy Kobzarenko will hope to improve on his 8th place in Ireland last year when he rode with the Navigators team. He won the prestigious Tour de Beauce in 2006 and is a former winner of the Ukrainian road race championships. Emile Abraham is the team sprinter who first took the headlines when he won the bronze medal in the 'B' World Championships road race in 2003. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Abraham has won the national road race championships on nine occasions but will face tougher competition in Ireland with quadruple Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish already named in the Team Columbia roster. There are two notable opportunities for the sprinters to fill the podium on stages one from Dublin to Waterford and stage two from Thurles to Loughrea.

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Press Release - 17th July 2008

Three more top teams heading to the Emerald Isle

CSF Group Navigare, SouthAustralia.com and Joker-Bianchi are all heading to the Emerald Isle for the start of the UCI 2.1 ranked Tour of Ireland next month.

CSF Group Navigare return to race in the 900km Tour of Ireland (27th to 31st August) sponsored by Failte Ireland. The Italian team is based on the Ceramiche Panaria outfit which participated in the inaugural race last year and this year's entry boasts a young and talented team. Matteo Priamo has already tasted success this year when he won three stages in the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey and more recently stage six of the Giro d'Italia. Argentinean Ruben Bongiorno is a devilish sprinter and will be seen battling it out with triple Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) and Julian Dean (Team Garmin-Chipotle) in the final 200m dash for the line in Ireland. Bongiorno has a good record in stage races including five stage victories and five second places in the Tour of Langkawi.

22-year-old Mauro Richeze is another top sprinter expected to be in contention for the An Post sponsored competition for sprinters. Richeze also rode in the Langkawi tour this year where he won the 9th stage. Paride Grillo has been a professional for four years and has won stages in the Volta a Portugal, Post Danmark Rundt and the Brixia Tour. Grillo made it on to the podium 27 times in his first three years of racing and his experience of riding the Giro d'Italia, Tour Down Under and the Tirreno Adriatico stage races will be invaluable to the team.

SouthAustralia.com/AIS has listed a strong team for the event which starts in Dublin on 27th August. The Australian team has already demonstrated its race winning talent this season. The young team dominated the Tour of Japan in May where Simon Clarke, Zakkari Dempster and Wesley Sulzberger each won stages and helped Cameron Meyer to win the overall classification. Meyer's brother Travis will represent the family in Ireland and has already shown that he is just as capable of winning events. The 19-year-old from Perth won the Tours of Berlin and New Zealand this year and is a former junior triple world track cycling champion.

Joker-Bianchi will fly in from Norway hoping to repeat their 2007 success when Edvald Boasson-Hagen won stage four into Galway as part of Team Maxbo-Bianchi. Boasson Hagen was snapped up by Team Columbia this year but Joker-Bianchi are very excited about their new young prospects Ole Haavardsholm (3rd in the Junior European Road Championships 2008) and Ingar Stokstad (podium positions in the Junior Road World Cup). Alexander Kristoff, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Joachim Bohler and Frederik Willman will know what to expect from last year but the three new team members will only have heard stories about the tough climb of St Patrick's Hill in Cork. Nordhaug finished third in the Norwegian road race championships at the end of last month. Bohler and Willman have both won stages in UCI ranked stage races this year. Kristoff has finished on the podium eight times this year in the Tours of Normandy and Bretagne and the Porec Trophy in Croatia.

With Team Columbia and Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 already confirmed for the five day race, race organizer Alan Rushton believes that race will be very exciting this year. "We have chosen a course that we believe provides a platform where victory could come from the climbers, roulers* or even the sprinters," said Rushton: "Everyday will be different right from the start when the race leaves Dublin and heads into Wicklow on the way to Waterford. We might even see a race where the overall winner only emerges from the dramatic last stage when the peloton arrives in Cork on Sunday. There will be plenty of daily action with special competitions for the King of the Mountains and in the An Post green jersey competition for sprinters."

The second Tour of Ireland runs over five days and will be contested by 16 international teams. The race starts in the Docklands area of Dublin on Wednesday 27th August when 112 riders head out on a route across 12 counties toward the final destination of the City of Cork. The route embraces key towns and cities as well as iconic mountain passes and splendid Irish scenery.

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Stage 1: Dublin to Waterford, 192km - Wednesday 27th August
Stage 2: Thurles to Loughrea, 158km - Thursday 28th August
Stage 3: Ballinrobe to Galway, 201km - Friday 29th August
Stage 4: Limerick to Dingle, 186km - Saturday 30th August
Stage 5: Killarney to Cork, 155km - Sunday 31st August