This article is from page 71 of the 2007-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
A NEW International Tour of Ireland Cycle Race was officially launched on Friday by Mayor of Ennis, Tom- my Brennan, at a reception held in the Town Hall.
The race, which passes through Ennis on Friday 24th August, will complete stage 3 of the route at Sta- tion Road near the Old Ground Ho- tel. Stage 3 will also bring cyclists through Kilaloe, Tuamgraney and Moymore.
Approx 112 riders will compete in this five-day nationwide event, tak- ing place from 22nd -26th August. The 864 km race begins in Kilkenny
and will pass through areas of Cork, Kerry and Clare before moving on through Galway.
The event will also bring the cy- clists through many other parts of the South, West and Midland Ireland before, on the 26th August, the vic- torious winner will arrive at Dublin’s Merrion Square.
The event, promoted by The Events Group in association with Shade Tree Sports and substantially funded by Failte Ireland as a means of show- ing the countryside of Ireland as a world class sport and tourism venue, will be covered live on television in a number of countries and will feature some of the top teams and riders in
the world. The race has been ranked 2.1 on the European Tour by the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), the world governing body for cycling.
Top European teams have already signed up to enter the inaugural tour including David O’Loughlin and Ci- aran Power (both Navigators Insur- ance), and the successful Irish based Murphy and Gunn team. Invitations have also been extended to other Irish professionals who are part of successful professional teams in Eu- rope and in the USA including Philip Duignam and Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole), David McCann (Coalvita) and current Irish road race champi- on, Paul Griffin (Giant Asia).