Munster have announced two teams of five for the upcoming An Post Rás na mBan (September 11th to 14th) with Sonia O’Sullivan the stand out name on the 10-rider entry.
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The international running star from Cobh is the official patron of this year’s five-day, six-stage event based in Ennis, Co Clare and is training hard ahead of her race debut in the colours of her home province.
Munster fielded a full five-rider team for the first time in 2012 and the growth of women’s cycling in the region is highlighted by the fact that just 12 months on, there is a Munster Development Squad set to support the main Munster team for Ireland’s premier women’s stage race.
While O’Sullivan will attract much of the attention, Munster will be looking to former stage winner and County Rider classification winner Fiona Meade for big results.
Meade has just completed the arduous Suir valley stage race in Tipperary, a four-stage event including continental-based professional male cyclists, and the experience will have helped fine tune her form for Clare.
O’Sullivan, who is currently training for her stage race debut in Melbourne, and Meade are named on the Munster Team lineup along with Anne Keohane, Emma Walsh and Martina Cronin.
The Munster Development Squad includes Lisa Stapelbroek, Teresa O’Sullivan, Ciara Mangan, Nicola Doherty and Sinéad Oakes.
