Deignan fit to resume

CYCLING:  After two months away from competition because of a knee injury, talented first-year professional Philip Deignan will join his Ag2R Prévoyance team-mates at the start of today's Circuit des Ardennes in France.

The Letterkenny rider had a bad crash in the Tour of the Mediterranean in February, hitting his knee and damaging tendons in his leg. Time off the bike allowed the bruising to heal, but the joint continued to give trouble for several weeks.

On the recommendation of Kurt Bogaerts, manager of the Seán Kelly Academy in Belgium, Deignan decided to receive treatment from the highly-regarded physio Lieven Maesschalck. He had helped Classic winners Johan Museeuw and Michele Bartoli to get over career-threatening injuries, and so Deignan moved temporarily to Belgium.

Following diagnosis of a tracking problem due to a slight degree of muscle wastage, the 21-year-old has recovered and will get things under way with a ride in the three-day race. Although he has missed valuable racing and training kilometres, Deignan doesn't envisage too many problems this weekend.

"It will be tough for a while, getting race fit, as I had a long break. But the Circuit des Ardennes is not really at a very high level so I should be able to ride around it anyway without too many problems," he said yesterday.

Deignan has set his sights on riding the mountainous Dauphiné Libéré and Route du Sud in June. He will then target the national championships and is expecting a good run of form in late summer and autumn. "The fact that I was off racing for two months means that I should have a strong end of season," he added.

Also returning to competition in the Ardennes event is Deignan's former team-mate Tim Cassidy.

Meanwhile, FBD Insurance Rás race organiser Dermot Dignam has announced that the biggest line-up of US teams will contest this year's event.

The sextet are led by the TIAA-CREF squad run by Jonathan Vaughers, former team-mate of Lance Armstrong in US Postal. Team Guinness, Boston Scientific Cycling, USA Ventilux First Rate Mortgage, US Tradewind Sports- ESP and the previously-announced McGuire Cycles will all travel for the May 22nd start.

This year's race will have a record entry of 200 riders.