Talks to get serious after Government funding boost

THE Government's £2 million commitment provides a huge boost to the prospects of an Irish start to the Tour de France in July 1998, but a lot of negotiating has still to be done before hopes of the great race coming here are realised.

Last month, the tour organiser, Jean-Marie Leblanc, and some of his top officials visited Dublin for talks with Pat McQuaid, the driving force behind the venture. Following a meeting with the Minister for Trade and Tourism Mr Kenny, they looked at possible start and finish locations.

Tour starts outside France are a regular occurrence in recent years, with rival applications to Dublin from Liege and Turin for 1998. Next year's route is due to be announced at a reception in Paris in two weeks. Although a final decision may not be made on the 1998 start until January, plans are already under way for the opening three days on Irish roads.

The transportation of 2,000 tour vehicles to France after the end of stage two presents the biggest problem. Rosslare to Cherbourg and Cork to Roscoff are the routes under consideration, with the shorter one from Cork more likely as the 190 riders and top officials could depart from Cork Airport.

Stage three in France is expected to be a team time-trial on the Tuesday afternoon.

The prologue time-trial would be over a closed Dublin city centre circuit of seven kilometres on Saturday afternoon, starting and finishing on O'Connell Street. It could go around Parnell Square and St Stephen's Green.

The opening road stage on Sunday would also start in O'Connell Street, with the Phoenix Park as the likely finishing point - Leblanc was very impressed with the area and sees it as ideal for requirements but the route would depend on the ferry arrangements to France. McQuaid said stage one could go down the east coast and take in some of Co Wexford because of the 1798 bicentenary celebrations and then back through the Wicklow mountains.

Stage two would probably start in Kilkenny and go to Cork, passing through Carrick-on-Suir.

It is a pity the project did not come about during the great years of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche but, even though there is very little chance of an Irishman being in the line-up, the tour would provide a much-needed boost for Irish cycling.

Ireland's representative Scott Hamilton was only 45th in the under-23 time-trial at the World Championships in Lugano, Switzerland, on Wednesday and as Ciaran Power has withdrawn from tomorrow's under-23 road race, only Hamilton and Padraig Quinn will be involved. Deirdre Murphy goes in the women's event.

With a stage win and overall victory in the hot spots sprints competition for David McCann, and second place on another stage for Peter Duly, the Irish team met with some success in the Tour of Hokkaido in Japan. Daly did not return with the rest of the party but went on to Australia where he is to ride in the Commonwealth Bank classic stage race.

. Team Route have the first of a series of cyclo-cross races at Ballymoney tomorrow at 12.a.m., building up to the championship there on December 7th. And on Sunday, there is a mountain-bike race listed for Clonmel, also at noon.