Rás Tailteann

File:Zbigniew Głowaty, Wyścig Rás Tailteann, Irlandia rok 1963.jpg

Zbigniew Głowaty, pictured after winning the 1963 Rás

Rás Tailteann (; "Tailteann Race"), often shortened to the Rás, is an annual international cycling stage race, held in Ireland. Traditionally held in May, the race returned after a hiatus in 2022 as 5 day event held in June. By naming the race Rás Tailteann the original organisers, members of the National Cycling Association (NCA), were associating the cycle race with the Tailteann Games, a Gaelic festival in early medieval Ireland.

The event was founded by Joe Christle in 1953 and was organised under the rules of the National Cycling Association (NCA). At that time competitive cycling in Ireland was deeply divided between three cycling organisations, the NCA, Cumann Rothaiochta na hÉireann (CRÉ) and the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation (NICF). The Rás Tailteann was the biggest race that the NCA organised each year.

As a result of a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) motion, the NCA was banned from international races and all teams affiliated with the UCI were banned from competing in races organised by the NCA. Therefore, only teams that were not affiliated with the UCI or who were willing to take the chance of serving a suspension for competing in the Rás Tailteann competed in the Rás Tailteann. During this time the NCA cyclists achieved prominence in the Rás with Gene Mangan, Sé O'Hanlon and Paddy Flanagan being several legends of the race. Mangan won only one Rás but featured in the race throughout the 1960s and early-1970s winning a total of 12 stages while O'Hanlon won the race four times and won 24 stages. Flanagan won the Rás three times and had 11 stage wins.

The NCA and the CRÉ together with NICF began unification talks in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result, a CRÉ team which included Pat McQuaid, Kieron McQuaid, Peter Morton and Peter Doyle was able to enter the race in 1974. Doyle won the race and the McQuaids won two stages each. The first Rás open to the two associations CRÉ and the NICF was in 1979 and enabled Stephen Roche to compete the event as part of the Ireland team. Roche won the event.

The race developed into a much sought after event by professional and amateur teams from many parts of the world. As part of the elite international calendar it was eligible to award qualifying points that are required for participation in Olympic Games and the UCI Road World Championships.

The first edition was held in 1953 as a two-day event but quickly developed into a week-long event. It ran every year, uninterrupted, until 2018. Following Cumann Rás Tailteann's failure to find a new principal sponsor for the race, it was announced in February 2019 that there would be no Rás that year.

The race was a UCI 2.2 event.

The race returned in 2022.

History

The official name of the race has been changed many times over the years, usually named after sponsors. An Post were the last title sponsors, although this sponsorship ended after the 2017 event.

Race names

• 1953 to 1967: Rás Tailteann
• 1968 to 1972: You Are Better Off Saving Rás Tailteann
• 1973: Tayto Rás Tailteann
• 1974 to 1976: Discover Ireland Rás Tailteann
• 1977 to 1980: The Health Race Rás Tailteann
• 1981 to 1982: Tirolia Rás Tailteann
• 1983: Dairy Rás Tailteann
• 1984 to 2004: FBD Milk Rás
• 2005 to 2010: FBD Insurance Rás
• 2011 to 2017: An Post Rás
• 2018 to date: Rás Tailteann

Past winners

No.	Year	GC Winner	Nationality	Team	Points class	KOM	U23
1	1953	Colm Christle		James' Gate C.C.
2	1954	Joe O'Brien		National C.C.
3	1955	Gene Mangan		Kerry
4	1956	Paudie Fitzgerald		Kerry
5	1957	Frank Ward		Dublin
6	1958	Mick Murphy		Kerry
7	1959	Ben McKenna		Meath
8	1960	Paddy Flanagan		Kildare
9	1961	Tom Finn		Dublin Team		Seán Dillon Template:Flagicon
10	1962	Sé O'Hanlon		Dublin
11	1963	Zbigniew Głowaty		Poland
12	1964	Paddy Flanagan (2)		Kildare
13	1965	Sé O'Hanlon (2)		Dublin
14	1966	Sé O'Hanlon (3)		Dublin
15	1967	Sé O'Hanlon (4)		Dublin
16	1968	Milan Hrazdíra		Czechoslovakia
17	1969	Brian Connaughton		Meath
18	1970	Aleksandr Gusyatnikov		U.S.S.R.
19	1971	Colm Nulty		Meath
20	1972	John Mangan		Kerry
21	1973	Mike O'Donaghue		Carlow
22	1974	Peter Doyle		I.C.F.
23	1975	Paddy Flanagan (3)		Kildare
24	1976	Fons Steuten		Netherlands
25	1977	Yuri Lavrushkin		U.S.S.R.
26	1978	Séamus Kennedy		Kerry
27	1979	Stephen Roche		Ireland
28	1980	Billy Kerr		Ireland
29	1981	Jamie McGahan		Scotland
30	1982	Dermot Gilleran		Ireland
31	1983	Philip Cassidy		Ireland
32	1984	Stephen Delaney		Dublin
33	1985	Nikolay Kosyakov
34	1986	Stephen Spratt		Ireland
35	1987	Paul McCormack		Longford
36	1988	Paul McCormack (2)		Ireland
37	1989	Dainis Ozols
38	1990	Ian Chivers		Ireland
39	1991	Kevin Kimmage		Meath
40	1992	Stephen Spratt (2)		Dublin
41	1993	Éamonn Byrne		Dublin Wheelers
42	1994	Declan Lonergan		Ireland
43	1995	Paul McQuaid		Ireland
44	1996	Tommy Evans		Armagh
45	1997	Andrew Roche		Kerry
46	1998	Ciarán Power		Team Ireland
47	1999	Philip Cassidy (2)		Team Ireland
48	2000	Julian Winn		Wales team	David McCann Template:Flagicon	David McCann Template:Flagicon
49	2001	Paul Manning		Great Britain team	David KoppTemplate:Flagicon	Nicholas White Template:Flagicon
50	2002	Ciarán Power (2)		Team Ireland-Stena Line	Chris Newton Template:Flagicon	Julian Winn Template:Flagicon
51	2003	Chris Newton		Great Britain team	Jonas Holmkvist Template:Flagicon	Maxim Iglinsky Template:Flagicon
52	2004	David McCann		Ireland-Thornton's Recycling Team	Malcolm Elliott Template:Flagicon	Tobias Lergard Template:Flagicon
53	2005	Chris Newton (2)		Recycling.co.uk	Malcolm Elliott Template:Flagicon	Mark Lovatt Template:Flagicon
54	2006	Kristian House		Recycling.co.uk	Morten Hegreberg Template:Flagicon	Ciarán Power Template:Flagicon
55	2007	Tony Martin		Thüringer Energie Team	Dominique Rollin Template:Flagicon	Ricardo Van der Velde Template:Flagicon
56	2008	Stephen Gallagher		An Post–Sean Kelly	Dean Downing Template:Flagicon	Kit Gilham Template:Flagicon
57	2009	Simon Richardson		Rapha Condor–recycling.co.uk	Niko Eeckhout Template:Flagicon	David O'Loughlin Template:Flagicon	Mark McNally Template:Flagicon
58	2010	Alexander Wetterhall		Team Sprocket Pro	John Degenkolb Template:Flagicon	Mark Cassidy Template:Flagicon	Connor McConvey Template:Flagicon
59	2011	Gediminas Bagdonas	Template:LIT	An Post–Sean Kelly	Shane Archbold Template:Flagicon	Oleksandr Sheydyk Template:Flagicon	Aaron Gate Template:Flagicon
60	2012	Nicolas Baldo		Atlas Personal–Jakroo	Gediminas Bagdonas Template:Flagicon	David Clarke Template:Flagicon	Richard Handley Template:Flagicon
61	2013	Marcin Białobłocki		Template:Cycling data UKY	Owain Doull Template:Flagicon	Martin Hunal Template:Flagicon	Simon Yates Template:Flagicon
62	2014	Clemens Fankhauser		Template:Cycling data TIR2	Patrick Bevin Template:Flagicon	Markus Eibegger Template:Flagicon	Alex Peters Template:Flagicon
63	2015	Lukas Pöstlberger		Template:Cycling data TIR2	Aaron Gate Template:Flagicon	Aidis Kruopis Template:Flagicon	Ryan Mullen Template:Flagicon
64	2016	Clemens Fankhauser (2)		Template:Cycling data TIR2	Aaron Gate Template:Flagicon	Nikodemus Holler Template:Flagicon	Jai Hindley Template:Flagicon
65	2017	James Gullen		Template:Cycling data JLT	Daan Meijers Template:Flagicon	Przemysław Kasperkiewicz Template:Flagicon	Michael O'Loughlin Template:Flagicon
66	2018	Luuc Bugter		Template:Cycling data DCR	Luuc Bugter Template:Flagicon	Lukas Rüegg Template:Flagicon	Robbe Ghys Template:Flagicon
67	2022	Daire Feeley		All Human–VeloRevolution	Rory Townsend Template:Flagicon	Dean Harvey Template:Flagicon	Louis Sutton Template:Flagicon
68	2023	Dillon Corkery		Team Ireland (CC Étupes)	Matthew Fox Template:Flagicon	Conor McGoldrick Template:Flagicon	Aaron Wade Template:Flagicon
69	2024	Dom Jackson		Foran CT	Tim Shoreman Template:Flagicon	Dean Harvey Template:Flagicon	Liam O'Brien Template:Flagicon