World’s top cyclists compete on Banner roads

THE world’s leading junior (U-18) cyclists are this week competing in the 2013 International Junior Tour of Ireland in Clare.

The 500km race, which is also the world’s longest junior event, commenced on Tuesday and continues over six stages until Sunday.

Previous winners of the race include Nicolas Roche, Martin Earley, Stephen Spratt, Tommy Evans, Peter Daly, Mehall Fitzgerald, Mark Scanlon, Sam Bennett, and current Team Sky riders Ian Stannard and Luke Rowe.
Last year’s event, which was held in Mayo, was won by 17-year-old Colin Joyce of US team Hot Tubes.

Teams representing all four Irish provinces and clubs from all over Ireland are participating, while there are international teams from Holland (two teams), USA, France and Britain.

Three of the race stages start and finish in Ennis with the remaining three finishing in Barefield, Cooraclare and Gallows Hill. The race will feature 21 categorised hills consisting of two Category 1 Climbs (Castle Hill in Doolin and Gallows Hill in Cratloe), four Category 2 Climbs and 15 Category 3 climbs. The stages incorporate all parts of the county including the Burren, the Lough Derg area, along the Shannon Estuary and some of the county’s main population areas, including Ennis, Kilrush, Ennistymon, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Sixmilebridge, Scariff and Killaloe.

The junior tour will be broadcast on Setanta Sports and Premier Sports UK.

Stage 3 this Thursday will take place over 103km and will start and finish in Ennis passing through Inch, Connolly, The Hand, Miltown Malbay, Spanish Point, Lahinch, Liscannor, Cliffs of Moher, Kilfenora and Corofin.
The 109km Stage 4 this Friday will once again start and finish in the Clare capital and will take cyclists through Corofin, Kilnaboy, the Burren National Park, Ballyvaughan, Black Head, Fanore, Doolin, Castle Hill, Kilshanny and Ennistymon.

Stage 5 on Saturday will see cyclists compete over an 80km route through West Clare. The stage will start in Ennis and finish in Cooraclare and will pass through Kildysart, Labasheeda, Kilmurry McMahon, Kilrush and Kilmihil. The final stage (Stage 6) on Sunday will see competitors begin in Ennis and finish on a climb at Gallows Hill in South-East Clare. En route, cyclists will pass through Barefield, Crusheen, Maghera, Tulla, O’Callaghan’s Mills, Broadford, Truagh, Sixmilebridge and Cratloe.