Rás Tailteann cycling event cancelled for 2020

Photo: Action from the 2017 Rás as riders make their way towards Burt, Co. Donegal. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

The 2020 Rás Tailteann cycling event has been definitively cancelled.

The prestigious cycling race was originally due to return to the roads of Ireland last month. It was then postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic with hopes that it could be held later in the year.

But Cáirde Rás Tailteann has now confirmed that the next staging of the event won't take place until 2021.

The five-stage cycle race was set to start in Dublin and head for Kerry via the south east. It was then planned to come back via Westmeath at stage four, where cyclists would cycle east from Clare via Athlone, stopping at Kilbeggan.

In 2018, the first stage of the Rás finished in Athlone, and it proved a memorable occasion for the local cycling fraternity. Athlone's Keith Fox (also well known through his work as a physiotherapist with the Irish rugby team) was among the cyclists who took part that year.

Cáirde Rás Tailteann said it has expended significant energy to safely put the Rás on the road in September/October 2020. The group has monitored the evolving situation and digested publicly available roadmaps and health guidance.

“Notwithstanding quicker relaxation of restrictions than anticipated, the opportunity to safely put the race back on the roads around Ireland before the end of the 2020 road cycling season has contracted rapidly on us. Cognisant of the related planning and especially the lingering public health concerns, it was unanimously agreed that the safest, healthiest and most prudent course of action at this time would be to postpone running the 2020 event until 2021,” said Race Director Eugene Moriarty.

He added: “The group shares the disappointment that circumstances beyond anyone’s control conspired to prevent the Rás happening this year, but the health, wellbeing and safety of all our volunteers and athletes as well as the general public continue to remain our primary concern.”

The good news for cycling fans is that the plan is for the Rás to return in 2021.

The group will now take a break for a few weeks into August, when planning and arrangements will get underway for the 2021 edition.

Cáirde Rás Tailteann has thanked everyone for the large volume of messages of support and well wishes received to date.