With one month to go to the FBD Milk Rás, professional rider David McCann has been confirmed as heading a strong Irish team for the 8-day event. McCann, who turned pro this season with the CCC Mat team, becomes the first Irish professional to ride the race in its 49-year history. The Irish road race champion will be considered one of the chief favourites after his strong showing in last weekend’s Rund Um Koln race in Germany, and his aggressive racing in last year’s edition of the FBD Milk Rás.
The five-man Irish team also sees the Rás debut of 1998 world junior champion Mark Scanlon, who at 20 years of age will be one of the youngest in the 20-strong field. The impressive quintet is completed by former Tonissteiner professional Morgan Fox, plus the in-form French based riders Aidan Duff and 1996 winner Tommy Evans. The FBD Milk Rás was granted world-ranking points for the first time this year, and runs from May 20-27th.
"It is definitely the strongest Irish team in years," states national road manager Declan Byrne, who picked the quintet. "Each of the five are very, very strong riders and every one of them is capable of making a mark on the race. David McCann showed last year that he definitely has the potential to win it – he probably would have done so had he not missed a vital move on the stage from Oughterard to Listowel. Tommy Evans is in very good form this year and has won the Rás before, Duff is also going very well and will come to the race targeting world-ranking points. Morgan Fox hasn’t hit his best form yet this year but he has a lot of experience as a former professional. If he comes around, he can be right up there."
Byrne shies away from comparisons between Scanlon and riders such as Stephen Roche and Eamon Byrne who won the race at a similar age. "The race is going to be very hard this year with all the foreign riders coming over because of the world-ranking points," he says. "I definitely think that Mark can win a stage or two, but it is probably asking too much for him to be up there going for yellow. He is very young and it remains to be seen how he will handle a stage race like the Rás. But stage wins are certainly very possible."
The FBD Milk Rás is expected to have 200 riders this year, the biggest field in its history and arguably the highest in standard. ‘There will be a lot of good riders here because of those UCI points’ says Byrne, ‘and that is going to make the race very hard. I have no doubt that some people might criticize the team as being all chiefs and no Indians, but with the quality of the field we simply have to have the best riders possible.’ The quintet will prepare for the May 20th start with a programme of foreign races. Some of the five are likely to ride with the Irish team in the forthcoming Lincoln Grand Prix in England and the Tour of Algeria.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
