Tour of Ireland 2008

Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 is the latest top cycling team to sign up to race in the Tour of Ireland 27th to 31st August 2008. Founded as a development squad in 2003 by Jonathan Vaughters the team has evolved from a group of promising U.S. riders to a world-class squad and the team is currently leading the team classification on the Tour de France

American Will Frischkorn finished second on stage three into Nantes on Monday 7th July and David Millar announced his return to form when he finished third in the 29.5km time trial on stage four on Tuesday 8th July. Millar’s team mate Christian Vande Velde finished in 8th place in the short time trial and their performances have propelled the team into the lead in the team classification. Other Team Garmin-Chipotle team members include power-man and former Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt, Martijn Maaskant (Holland) and Julian Dean (NZL). The team for Ireland is expected to be announced shortly.

Team Columbia has now confirmed the line up for the Dublin start of Irish Tour on August 27th. Top sprinter Mark Cavendish (GBr) and former triple world time trial champion Michael Rogers (Australia) head up an impressive squad list alongside Bernhard Eisel (Austria), Bert Grabsch (Germany), Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden), Adam Hansen (Australia) and 2008 Giro d’Italia final stage winner Marco Pinotti (Italy).

The former Team High Road are also on Tour duty in France with British fans expecting a stage victory for Cavendish to add to the double he achieved in the Italian tour this year. Cavendish also took the title of World Champion earlier this year when he teamed up with Bradley Wiggins to win the Madison event at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester. Team Columbia are currently lying in second spot in the team classification in France.

Website - www.tourofireland.ie