One Day 'Classic' in Ireland ?

Junior

I know the economy is in the toilet at the moment and it will be for the foreseeable future, however, we've got to start looking at how to attract visitors back here again - so how about a single day 'classic' style race for the ProTour here in Ireland - I don't think we'd get enough sponsors again to run a ToI style event, but we certainly have the terrain and the ability to run an autumn classic ..what do you think ?

I stuck down some thoughts and a poll here - thebike.ie - Ireland a venue for a classic ?

Lumen

Some of the Ras TV coverage this year was very memorable. The speed they were carrying through small villages was mindboggling.

So, I think it's not all about hills and helicopter shots.

Wherever it might be, the road surfaces would need to be sorted out properly.

niceonetom

I think it's a great idea. Not sure whether spring or autumn would be the best place for it, but having it towards the summer end of those seasons would be best.

The route would of course be contentious... I'd love to see a Dublin finish with cheering crowds lining O'Connell street, but that would be virtually impossible to get off the ground given our NIMBY culture. Perhaps a Kelly Classic running somewhere around Cork, Tipp and Waterford, either starting or finishing in Carrick? Mur d'Seskin? Kelly would be a great man to get on board in some capacity, even if purely nominal. His name would bring Belgians over and I'm sure there must be hungry young teams there that would love to compete - a better prospect than the TOI where most teams were there for no more than a spot of training and complaining about the conditions.

As to the road surface - it's not a bug, it's a feature! What we lack in cobbles, Dutch street furniture and bergs we make up for in dead roads, pot-holes and randomly parked tractors.

bcmf

I am with Tom on this. the roads would make it a feature. There are many short sharp climbs on tough/dead roads to make a great one-day race. Having Sean Kelly on board would be vital and with McQuaid at the top it could achieved.
Though I seem to remember after the '87 (I think) Grand Tour season wen the Nissan was on many riders were complaining of the route being too hilly/tough after they had ridden an extremely tough Vuelta and TdF.

RobFowl

The Shay Elliot used to be UCI ranked and IMO this would be the way to go again.
Attract the continental pro teams and the British teams and build from there.

Captain Havoc

I think starting somewhere in Kerry and finishing on Patricks Hill (maybe laps) would be the best idea, that would really show off the beauty of the country and the finish could be a famous one. This is my idea

lukester

I'd love to see a one day classic here. The Shay Elliott has history, although it might be desirable to have something entirely new that could be successfully promoted as a classic style race in its own right. We have enough murs and Irish style pavé to make a superb race. The only problem I can see is generating enough interest in this country to be able to attract major sponsors. The average person here would think Roubaix is either a cheese or a song by a band from Leeds.

And somewhat OT, apologies, but I could never get that excited about anything involving Darach Mc Quaid at the moment (TOI/TOC) after his father's comments about shortening the Giro/Vuelta in favour of the 'American Tour'/Tour of Blahfornia, an event run by his son's company.

The man is a clown. A clown with lots of power. Not a funny clown.

bcmf

lukester wrote: »

m Leeds.
The man is a clown. A clown with lots of power. Not a funny clown.

Agreed. But at the min he is an Irish man who is calling the shots.

Morrisseeee

Maybe a new thread should be started: "Post up your ONE DAY IRELAND CLASSIC route", anyways here's my 'anti-Cavendish' route, it has shiit loads of hills, the road surfaces (in most parts) are crap, que an instant classic :eek::p
Also: what should the Classic be called: "The High King of Ireland Classic", "Go n-eiri an bothar leat Classic", "The St. Patrick Classic" < run on Paddies day !! (actually I'm liking this idea), etc etc.

ROK ON

Jnr. Great idea.
Route - has to be 180-220km and capture essence of riding in Ireland. For me that is a very lumpy parcours on classic irish country roads. Lots of twists and turns and corners. Ideal for breakaways and attacks.

I live in Kerry and would rule it out immediately. Conor Pass and Slea Hd are fantastic but the road to and from there is straight and exposed. Not great to encourage attacking racing.
Best cycling in SW of country is on Cork Kerry border - shehy mtns and Beara. Only problem is that it is too remote to travel to for teams and supporters.

On that basis where else.

It has to either start or finish near Dublin.
Personally I would take back roads from Naas to Dunlavin over Wicklow Gap down SE/SM to Tullow, Bgnalstown, Graignamanagh, Inistoige, Benetsbridge, Kilkenny.

Very lumpy. Three climbs. 180km.
Easy for irish cycling fans to cycle to several iconic parts of the course.

Easy for teams to get back to airport due to motorway close by.
Dublin and Kilkenny have a lot of accommodation.

I cycled in Kilkenny during the summer with Capt Havoc. I loved the route he chose. Flat fast bits. Short sharp walls. Drifting winding descent to power down.

Reminds me - one of the best races all year was the stage in TOB where Martin, Bozic and Hougerland were away on a lumpy course all day.
Classic.

niceonetom

It's about 175km from Dundrum to Carrick On Shannon by the direct route. It wouldn't be hard to bring that up to the 220+ that a one-day race needs - a loop through Wicklow over either the SG or WG and then Glenmalure to pay Shay respect would add interest and difficulty. The route could be summarised as Roche-Elliot-Kelly. Make it 250k+ and we could add Earley to that.

L'Enfer du Nord

I know the sportif normally follows the classic, but why not reverse it here and have a pro race over the wicklow 200 route?

Alternativly upgrading an existing race like the Shay Elliot would be good.

I agree McQuaid is a clown (like alot of 'professional' sports administrators), but it would be great if we could get the UCI road world championships here. I'm thinking Connemarra or Kerry would be great locations.

CramCycle

niceonetom wrote: »

It's about 175km from Dundrum to Carrick On Shannon by the direct route. It wouldn't be hard to bring that up to the 220+ that a one-day race needs - a loop through Wicklow over either the SG or WG and then Glenmalure to pay Shay respect would add interest and difficulty. The route could be summarised as Roche-Elliot-Kelly. Make it 250k+ and we could add Earley to that.

I like this one, make it into a 250, cut south for a few of our favourite climbs as suggested and finish on O'Connell St. I think the finish somewhere like O'Connell st. is important for an epic finish that will also attract a crowd and encourage future tourism.

Use the military road near Laragh to simulate cobbles (or an earthquake) good advertising for the bikes if they can survive it at speed

michaelm

I really like this idea and think that the economic situation could be the real incentive to push for something like this rather than a reason why it couldn't happen. Never before have we needed something so badly to promote Ireland overseas and hence bring people into this land of ours. Fáilte Ireland will continue to spend on tourism and perhaps this could be the ideal project to improve our image abroad. It would however need a very specific marketing title and USP. Rather try to emulate the Spring classics - it would be more advantageous to come up with our own unique brand. So what have we got that would make us stand out? (be serious now!). From a marketing strategy it would, in my opinion, be difficult to overlook the Atlantic Ocean as the backdrop with the particular jewels being Killarney, the Burren and Cliffs of Moher. So my tuppence worth - a route along the west coast making it the most westerly of the European Classics and one with a clever title. As a matter if interest does anyone have any ball park figures for the cost of something like this? - Maybe the unprecedented situation we are in could attract a novel approach to marketing, maybe Aer Lingus/Ryan Air and the Irish Hotel Federation could come on board and simply donate flights and accommodation "in the Nation interest"

Esroh

niceonetom wrote: »

It's about 175km from Dundrum to Carrick On Shannon by the direct route. It wouldn't be hard to bring that up to the 220+ that a one-day race needs - a loop through Wicklow over either the SG or WG and then Glenmalure to pay Shay respect would add interest and difficulty. The route could be summarised as Roche-Elliot-Kelly. Make it 250k+ and we could add Earley to that.

Like this idea

But just to give a non East/Southeast option.
Sligo to Galway via Mayo Lakes and Connemara.
Head thru the Ox mts to Ballina, Then along the Shore of Lough Conn via Pontoon to Castlebar, Westport. Under the shadow of Crogh Patrick to Leenane and Killary Harbour. Back thru the Maam valley and into Joyce Country to Clonbur on to Maam and Maam Cross. Then thru South Connemara with the final 20 km along the coast of Galway Bay with a finnish on the Prom in Salthill
265km No crazy climbs but constantly rolling roads that have a good surface but are as dead as any the country can offer.
In September you could be sure of Headwinds and probably wet but if the sun was shining it would make good advert for our Green and Beautiful land

amjon.

lukester wrote: »

The man is a clown. A clown with lots of power. Not a funny clown.

He is a complete and utter idiot. The thing is it's the UCI so it's his idiocy and lack of spine that landed him the job in the first place. It's not like he's keeping some knight in shining armour out of Agile, if he wasn't there it would just be some other blindfolded amadán.

bcmf

The more this thread goes on the better it sounds. Does anyone have an ear in Bord Failte.!!

Captain Havoc

bcmf wrote: »

The more this thread goes on the better it sounds. Does anyone have an ear in Bord Failte.!!

It's called Fáilte Ireland these days and I'd say that contacts there would be well covered from the TOI days. If not Captain Havoc is a qualified hotel manager and knows plenty of people in the industry

Esroh

Captain Havoc wrote: »

It's called Fáilte Ireland these days and I'd say that contacts there would be well covered from the TOI days. If not Captain Havoc is a qualified hotel manager and knows plenty of people in the industry

And it must be remembered that we now have a direct line of Contact with 'Mammy Brammier' so HTC Col will be afraid not to turn up:D

sy

Nice idea but our best chance is if our present professionals win a few prestigious races/stages over the next few seasons and McQuaid puts his considerable influence behind it. If we can raise the profile of Irish cycling as afore mentioned then it all boils down to money and finding a suitable time on an ever expanding international calender

In my view the Shay Elliot is the way forward. Well recognised by the British squads and all we need is a few more continental teams showing interest...

Anybody know Lance's number :pac:

PS some of the distances mentioned are a little too tough :eek: Remember the Monuments of cycling are around the 260 km mark (apart from San Remo) So if you are planning a course try keep it around the 200km. The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Het Volk) is around 199km (which was actually won in 1959 by the great Shay Elliot) and would be a good example of what we should aim for! Have to get the Sunday Business Post to sponsor it

michaelm

bcmf wrote: »

The more this thread goes on the better it sounds. Does anyone have an ear in Bord Failte.!!

The main reason for my earlier response is from approaching Fáilte Ireland a few years back about a cycling project in our area. I simply put together a short proposal to map and sign a number of cycling routes along the east coast of Lough Derg where I live. I also contacted members of the local County Council and to my delight found everyone in favour of the project. Within just over a year the project was delivered www.northtippcycling.com I was more than surprised at how positive all the relevant parties were in relation to the project. There are currently 10 such projects around the country and when you add Ballyhoura, Portumna and soon we believe the Slieve Blooms it is clear there is quite a lot happening to promote cycling as a leisure and tourist product here at the moment. The next step is to market these - while our project was delivered I have found the marketing of it to be very poor and the same can be said of many of the others around the country, with the exception of Ballyhoura. I had to create the website myself, from my own limited skills and had to get the map designed and printed (which I am happy to post out to anyone who wishes to get a copy, our local tourist office will cover the cost). How many people here are aware of the Nenagh project or that Portumna Forest Park has approximately 14 miles of cycle trails, designed by the same man as did Ballyhoura? Hosting a major one day Classic could be the ideal way to promote these projects.

I am of the very strong belief that if Fáilte Ireland are approached and asked "will you sponsor a one day international cycle race in Ireland?" the answer will be negative. However if ground work is done and a case is put forward with positive indications from sponsors etc then I feel the attitude would be different.

While on the subject maybe this is a good time to return to a discussion here from some time ago http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055368281&page=9 - in relation to the toughest climbs in Ireland. Now this is a project that I have absolutely no doubt could be achieved within this calendar year if a few people from here are welcome to come on board.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if at the end of this year there was a significant cycling project in this country delivered as a result of the wonderful resource that this forum has become.

In conclusion then would the OP be willing to co-ordinate the creation of a proposal to Fáilte Ireland and would anyone else be interested in working with me on the Toughest Climb project? (or indeed manage the project if willing, I'm sure there are many people here with better project management skills than I)

bcmf

Michael would on one of those trails in say Portumna or Nenagh etc have a road-trail that would be able to accommadate a section of lets call it 'Irish Pave'. I am thinking of something alongs the lines of the Giro stage last year through the 'strada bianchi' in Tuscany. Made for fantastic images and stage or the Cicle classic (not sure if this is right)in the UK where a section of the race goes through some farmers fields. If that cuould be done then surely the local cc who invested in these would be thrilled.

michaelm

bcmf wrote: »

Michael would on one of those trails in say Portumna or Nenagh etc have a road-trail that would be able to accommadate a section of lets call it 'Irish Pave'. I am thinking of something alongs the lines of the Giro stage last year through the 'strada bianchi' in Tuscany. Made for fantastic images and stage or the Cicle classic (not sure if this is right)in the UK where a section of the race goes through some farmers fields. If that cuould be done then surely the local cc who invested in these would be thrilled.

Sadly nothing in that league. The Nenagh routes are quiet rural roads that mainly travel along the eastern shores of Lough Derg and pass through some lovely little villages while Portumna is basically "Ballyhoura Lite" - single tracks and totally flat. I didn't mention these however in relation to possible route for a one day classic, more to make the point that Fáilte Ireland have invested quite a lot in cycling in recent years and maybe now would be interested in a novel way of marketing the various initiatives.

jwshooter

This is possibly one of the better threads on hear in a while. the tour down under is next week , the pros will be flying to training camps to get ready for the spring classics after it .

If a one day was to work the day should take into account where the pros are and going to . ie flying over or close to ireland .

Stokolan

What about somthing like this or like this these are rough routes as I don't know the exact roads you would take up over the mountains

CramCycle

Stokolan wrote: »

What about somthing like this or like this these are rough routes as I don't know the exact roads you would take up over the mountains

Nice routes but far too long for a one day classic IMO

superrdave

How about this route, taking in the best of the Wicklow mountains, along with a potential sprint finish up through the Phoenix Park.... Stays on relatively quiet roads (with the exception of the main road out of Waterford) but on a Saturday or Sunday, would it be an issue?

And at just over 200kms, it is certainly the right length. It would be a test of a sprinters team to get him over the mountains and into first place, anyway.

Captain Havoc

Nissan to sponsor it?