From CyclingUlster.com 

Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly was in Lisburn today accompanied by Dame Mary Peters and former Time Trial great Dave Lloyd to launch the Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge. Joe Barr and Marc Barr, two brothers from the north west of Ireland, are the driving force behind this event and they feel the time is right to address a shortfall within Irish leisure cycling.

The 4-day event will cover 800 kilometres taking in all four provinces of the country and it is expected to attract entries from all over Europe and beyond. “We have a clear objective to have Ireland united on the global stage of cycling”, said Joe Barr. “Our long term goal is to have the event included in the UCI World Golden bike series were it will be ranked alongside such classic sportives as the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Classic, Paris-Roubaix and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.”
The Celtic Tigers Cycle Fund was also launched at the same civic reception as an integral part of the Tour of Ireland. This will be the first fund of its kind in Ireland which will assist young racing cyclists from throughout the country and provide them with the financial support to compete internationally in Europe. It will be similar to the Braveheart fund in Scotland and the Dave Rayner fund in England.

Also benefiting from the challenge will be the National Council for the Blind in Ireland and the Blind Centre for Northern Ireland which were nominated as the two charities associated with the event.

Speaking at the launch Lisburn’s Mayor Trevor Lunn said, “Lisburn City Council is delighted to host the launch of the Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge 2007 and we hope that it will help raise the profile of leisure cycling in Ireland. I have studied the course and the Challenge looks like it will be a demanding task for all participants and I would urge all keen cyclists to sign up for the event. I am very much looking forward to seeing them off from Lisburn next May.”

The event which begins on 11th of May will see the 500 entrants travel from Lisburn to Cavan on day one followed by a mammoth stage of over 200k to Galway City. Stage three will take in the picturesque Burren continuing over the Silvermine Mountains to Kilkenny. The event concludes with a gruelling run from Kilkenny to Dublin via the Wicklow Mountains.

Category: Touring » |

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