Eddie Dunbar continues preparations ahead of Giro d’Italia

Eddie Dunbar continues his build-up for this year’s Giro d’Italia this week, lining out in the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland.

Following a change of team over the winter, the Corkman is one of Jayco AlUla’s designated team leaders this year but suffered a fractured hand on his first day of racing this season. He returned to competition this month in the Itzulia Basque Country race and will now continue his build-up towards the Giro, where he is hoping to finish in the top 10 overall.

Dunbar wasn’t suited to the 6.82 kilometre prologue time trial on Tuesday and finished back in 70th place, 26 seconds behind the day’s winner Josef Černý (Soudal-QuickStep). He will feel more at home on Wednesday’s undulating stage one, and will hope to shine in the high mountains later in the race. Performing well will be important for him to show he is on track for the Giro.

Meanwhile, with three weeks to go until the start of this year’s Rás Tailteann, details have been announced of three further foreign teams, as well as another of the category sponsors.

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The Isle of Man team will return to the event again, 12 months after enlivening the racing and clocking up several top 10 stage finishes. “We are hoping to build on that success this year,” states team manager Conor Davies.

Irish rider Marcus Christie will line out as part of the squad, returning to the Rás for the first time since 2016. He is best known as a time trialist, having taken three podium finishes in the national championships as well as seventh in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but will hope to show his strength well in the five road race stages.

Corrin Leeming and Mark Horsthuis will return to the race for the squad, while Jamie Fletcher and Ralph Holden complete the line-up.

“We always look forward to welcoming the Isle of Man team back to An Rás and this is no different for 2023,” said race director Gerard Campbell. “We all look forward to watching how the newest generation of riders animate the race this year”.

Cycling Sheffield will also line out once again and will hope to build upon the showing of last time around. It helped British rider Connor Swift to go on to a professional career, including his current contract with Ineos Grenadiers, and will compete in a number of UCI-ranked races in Britain and Europe plus the Lincoln GP as part of its build-up.

“The team has a great race program for 2023, with the Rás being one of the highlights,” stated team principal Dave Coulson. “The level of organisation is very high, and there’s always fantastic engagement from the public as the race moves from town to town.”

The third overseas squad confirmed this week is the London Irish – Foran CCC team. It also returns to the Rás this season and hopes to draw on the experience gained last year, as well as that it picked up competing in the Rás Mumhan. Dominic Jackson finished fifth overall in the latter event this year.

“Our team is very excited to return to the 2023 running of An Rás Tailteann,” stated Paul Lavelle. “We are returning with some members of last year’s team, and have added some new additions to ensure we are well positioned to compete for stage wins and add our names to the incredible history of this race”.

Those three squads join the recently-announced England – Halesowen Academy, England – Richardson Trek and USA – Good Guys Racing squad as international teams. Others will be made public in the near future.

Rás organising committee Cáirde Rás Tailteann has also confirmed that one of the category sponsors from last year will return once again. Festina Ireland will reward the day’s best county rider on each stage, something Campbell says is important. The Rás is known for its blend of international and county riders, a mix which is part of the reason for the race’s aggression and unpredictability.

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“Cáirde Rás Tailteann are grateful that a well-known brand such as Festina has continued to acknowledge one of the most important elements of the race and in doing so acknowledge the efforts of our domestic county riders each day,” Campbell said.

This year’s Rás will begin in Navan on May 17th and will feature stage finishes in Birr, Ennis, Castlebar, Monaghan and Blackrock, Co. Louth. The clockwise route will see the riders cover 768 kilometres and 14 categorised climbs over five days. Daire Feeley (Cork-VeloRevolution/All Human) triumphed last year, becoming the first Irish winner since Stephen Gallagher in 2008.