When the national championship races are decided at Collon, Co Louth, on Sunday the way will be clear for the final countdown to the Tour de France, which gets under way with the Dublin city centre prologue time trial a fortnight tomorrow.
The senior title, promoted by the Leinster Federation and sponsored by Finches, will be decided over eight laps of an undulating circuit of 13.6 miles, starting at 12.30. The championship for juniors is over five laps, while the women compete over four.
Today the Ireland team of Tommy Evans, Paul Griffin, Andy Roche and Paddy Moriarty contest the Manx International, over three laps of the 37 3/4-mile TT course in the Isle of Man. A Northern Ireland team of Ian Chivers, Conor Henry, Denis Easton, Neil Teggart, Michael Smith and Dave McCall are also entered, and they will all be back to clash with the other main contenders at Collon.
Mark Scanlon and the reigning Irish junior champion, Spainbased Dermot Nally, go in the Viking Trophy race over two laps of the Isle of Man today, and Scanlon will then be out to take Nally's title on Sunday.
Last year, in the senior championship over a similar circuit at Carrick-on-Suir, Morgan Fox was the surprise winner from David McCann with Ray Clarke third. They are all in again and expected to figure prominently.
Most of those racing with Continental teams will be there too to make it a true title test. Ras winner Ciaran Power, Aidan Duff, Michael McNena, Padraig Quinn and Colm Farrell all said they would be back, while the line-up also includes the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games team of Evans, Henry, Chivers, Teggart, Easton and McCall. al Fitzgerald, the winner at Wexford in 1995, is another leading fancy, while Kieran MacMahon, David O'Loughlin, Bill Moore, Karl Donnelly, Mick O'Donnell and Mark Kiernan have obvious claims too. Fitzgerald's powerful finishing sprint may be decisive.
There is an additional incentive for Leinster men in the senior championship, as Sean Bracken has an invitation for a team of four for a two-day race at Blackpool on July 25th and 26th, and he said the selection method is very straightforward: the first four members of Leinster clubs will go. The Leinster 10-mile time trial championship listed for tomorrow has been deferred to a later date.
In addition to Tommy Campbell's appeal to those who plan to tackle the Mars Challenge on Sunday week (over the route for stage one of the Tour de France) to get their entries in now, he is also looking for volunteers to help with the promotion both of that event and the family fun outing in the Phoenix Park. Campbell can be contacted at 286 4451.
