Team line ups confirmed for 2018 Tour of Ireland

Tour of Ireland 27th to 31st August 2008

The team rosters have just been issued for the Tour of Ireland 27th to 31st August 2008. 16 teams will line up for the 900km race which starts at Grand Canal Square at Hanover Quay, Dublin Docklands on the morning of Wednesday 27th.

Team Columbia, Tinkoff and Garmin Slipstream / Chipotle headline the team list which also includes Karpin Galicia, SouthAustralia.com/AIS, CSF Navigare, Team Type 1 and Rabobank. Quadruple Tour de France winner Mark Cavendish is named in the Columbia team with Bernhard Eisel, Frantisek Rabon and Marco Pinnotti also in the seven man team. Daniel Martin arrives back in Ireland at the head of the Garmin / Chipotle team with a star studded line up. Martin will wear the Irish road race champions jersey that he won back in June following his earlier victory in the Route Du Sud in France . The 21-year-old nephew of Stephen Roche is currently in 11th place overall after four stages of the Tour of Portugal which finishes on 24th August. Martin's high finish in the 171km mountainous stage three in Portugal saw him gain time on many of his rivals and he is currently 5min 38 seconds behind the race leader with seven stages remaining. The Garmin-Chipotle team includes former Tour de France yellow jersey holder David Millar and former Paris Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt.

The Irish team of An Post/ Sean Kelly has FBD R�s winner Stephen Gallagher (Armagh), Paidi O'Brien (Newmarket, Co Cork) and Mark Cassidy (Meath) challenging for honours on home soil alongside top British riders Daniel Lloyd and Dan Fleeman. Fleeman is a former British road race champion who nailed his credentials as a climber on to the notice board when he won the Tour of the Pyrenees in France this month and he could figure in the tough stages through the counties of Cork and Kerry.

The Irish national team includes top riders Paul Griffin (Tralee) and former multiple Irish champion David McCann (Belfast) who won this year's Tour of Ulster and finished fourth in the tough Tour of Qinghai Lake in China last month. Miceal Concannon (Kerry) justified his Irish team selection when he won the 100-mile stage two of the Surrey League Five Day race in England this weekend, where he beat Tom Southam (Team Halfords) in the sprint after the duo finished over two minutes ahead of the bunch led home by British champion Rob Hayles.

Pezula Racing's team line up includes David O'Loughlin (Cong Co Mayo) who finished 11th in the men's individual pursuit in the Beijing Olympics last Friday and Ciar�n Power (Waterford). Pezula have signed two new riders from Sweden ahead of the race run in association of Failte Ireland. Rapha-Condor-Recycling and Pinarello RT are the top British sides making the short trip over the Irish sea.

Full team list:

Team Columbia (USA)
Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 (USA)
Tinkoff Credit Systems (Russia)
Rabobank (Netherlands)
CSF Group - Navigare (Italian)
Karpin Galicia (Spain)
SouthAustralia.com/AIS (Australia)
An Post � Sean Kelly Team (Ireland)
Team Type 1 (USA)
Joker-Bianchi (Norway)
TopSport � Vlaanderen (Belgium)
Pezula Racing (Ireland)
Irish National Team
Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk (Britain)
MTN Energade Cycling Team (South Africa)
Pinarello- CandiTV (Britain)

Tour of Ireland 27th to 31st August in association with Failte Ireland

Stage 1: Dublin to Waterford, 192km - Wednesday 27th August
Stage 2: Thurles to Loughrea, 158km � Thursday 28th August
Stage 3: Ballinrobe � Galway, 201km � Friday 29th August
Stage 4: Limerick to Dingle, 186km � Saturday 30th August
Stage 5: Killarney to Cork, 155km - Sunday 31st August