Rás Tailteann Cycle Race

Everyone involved with Rás Tailteann is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former Rás winner Stephen Delaney.

Stephen wrote his name into the history of the race in 1984 when he claimed overall victory in the Rás Tailteann riding with the Dublin Leyland team.

A hugely respected figure in Irish sport, Stephen went on to make an enormous contribution to coaching and high-performance sport in Ireland while his place among the select group of riders to have won the Rás will forever remain part of the race’s history.

We extend our sincere condolences to Stephen’s family, friends and all those within the cycling and wider sporting community who knew him.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Pictures courtesy of rastailteann.com/Eddie Dawson.

🚴‍♂️ Best of luck Lenny! 🇫🇷

Best of luck to committee member Lenny McManus who takes on an incredible challenge next month in aid of Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin.

Lenny will take on the French 500 for CHI, a self-supported, door-to-door bikepacking challenge. Starting from County Louth, he’ll cycle to Dublin Port before taking the ferry to France and riding approximately 500km around Normandy, carrying everything he needs and camping each night before making the journey home.

It’s a fantastic challenge for a brilliant cause and everyone at Rás Tailteann wishes Lenny the very best of luck! 💪🚴‍♂️

If you’d like to support Lenny and Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, you can donate here:

🔗 https://gofund.me/f942486b5

Rás Tailteann is saddened to learn of the passing of Cormac MacLynn, a former Rás stage winner who represented Antrim in the race.

Cormac was part of the Rás during its formative years and wrote his own memorable chapter in the history of the race in 1959.

On Saturday, 8 August 1959, Cormac lined up for Stage 7 of the Rás, a 161-kilometre journey from Fermoy to Waterford. In an account of that day which Cormac later shared with the Rás, he recalled that things had not started particularly well for himself and his Antrim teammates.

By the end of the day, however, Cormac had produced one of the great moments of his cycling career.

He arrived into Waterford at the head of the race to claim a memorable Rás stage victory, finishing ahead of some of the outstanding riders of that era. Behind him were 1958 Rás winner Mick Murphy in second, Tom Whelan in third, Ronnie Williams in fourth, Pat O’Callaghan in fifth, Paddy Flanagan in sixth and Christy Dunne in seventh.

It was a victory Cormac never forgot. Many years later, he put his memories of that August day into words for the Rás archives under the fitting title “A Memorable Day at the Rás Tailteann 1959.”

Perhaps the most fitting indication of just how much that day meant to Cormac was that the glass vase he won for his stage victory still held pride of place on his mantelpiece many decades later.

More than six decades on, Cormac’s name remains part of the history of Ireland’s great race – Cormac MacLynn, Antrim: Rás Tailteann stage winner, 1959.

We extend our sincere condolences to Cormac’s family, friends and all who knew him at this sad time.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Information & stage winning picture courtesy of Eddie Dawson/Rastailteann.com

Best of luck to Liam O’Brien, Seth Dunwoody, Adam Rafferty and David Gaffney as they get their Tour de l’Avenir underway today! 🇮🇪

A special mention to Rás rider Liam O’Brien who had a superb 2024 Rás Tailteann, finishing 3rd overall and winning the U23 White Jersey.

Best of luck to all four for the week ahead! ☘️🇮🇪

📸 Lorraine O’Sullivan

👏 A huge congratulations to 2026 Man of the Rás Joseph Mullen of Moynalty Cycling Club who completed an epic 700km journey from Navan to Mizen Head and back in aid of Enable Ireland 🚴‍♂️

An incredible effort for a fantastic cause. You can donate to Joseph’s fundraiser at the link below.

Congratulations Joseph from everyone at Rás Tailteann! 👏

Support Navan to Mizen for Enable Ireland Meath on iDonate.ie Navan to Mizen for Enable Ireland Meath for Enable Ireland, created by Joseph Mullen | iDonate.ie

Rás Tailteann was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Tommie Campbell.

Tommie was a stalwart of the Irish cycling community and a great supporter of Rás Tailteann, particularly through his work as a sports journalist.

Race Director Ger Campbell fondly recalled his first encounter with Tommie:

“I first met Tommie in 1978 at the very first Junior Tour of Ireland, an event with which he would become synonymous for many years.

In the winter of 1978/1979, Tommie was part of a group of people who successfully brought our federations and associations together, to a point where everyone was racing together and which would eventually lead to the formation of the association we have today.

Tommie was also hugely supportive of race promotions through his weekly columns, helping to publicise events throughout the country. He was always approachable and, if a difference of opinion ensued, there was always a firm handshake at the end.

He will be greatly missed around our sport. May he rest in peace.”

Rás Tailteann extends its deepest condolences to Tommie’s family, friends and all those within the cycling community who knew him.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Cycling Ireland is saddened to learn of the passing of long time Cycling Ambassador Tommy Campbell yesterday, 10th August 2026.

Tommy had been involved in Cycling all his life not only as a rider, commissaire and administrator – but also through his fantastic commitment as a Cycling Journalist.

Tommy was always flying the flag for our beloved sport at every opportunity.

Tommy promoted some of the best races and events in Ireland – always a man to be able to get a few “punts” out of someone – he introduced many major brands to cycling sponsorship in the past including many large deals including Guinness.

Tommy was involved in all stages of our federation’s journey into Cycling Ireland as we know it today, having been a senior administrator in the Irish Cycling Federation, member of the Irish Cycling Tripartite Committee, and finally a Board Member of Cycling Ireland.

His smile and happiness will be missed by all.

Cycling Ireland would like to extend heartfelt condolences to the Campbell Family at this time.

May he rest in peace.

Fast and aggressive racing in Mountnugent tonight, hosted by Navan Road Club.

James Armstrong took the victory ahead of 2026 Man of the Rás Matthew Walls with three-time Man of the Rás Mikey Flaherty completing the podium.

🥇 James Armstrong
🥈 Matthew Walls
🥉 Mikey Flaherty

A massive congratulations to Rian McCrystal on winning the 2026 Quanta Capital Junior Tour! 🏆🇮🇪

Well done also to Alice Sherratt and the entire organising team on delivering another outstanding edition of the Junior Tour. Six days of first-class racing and a fantastic showcase for junior cycling.

Our Champion 🏆🟡

Congratulations to Rian McCrystal (Cycling Ireland), the 2026 Quanta Capital Junior Tour Champion.

Rian produced a week of exceptional racing, claiming multiple stage victories and battling right to the final day to secure the overall title. A thoroughly deserved winner.

Congratulations also to his family, Team Ireland and everyone who supported him throughout the week 👏🇮🇪🚴

📸 Stephen McMahon

The stories that surround the famous Kerry cyclist Mick Murphy, known as ‘The Ironman’, are as legendary as the man himself.

The role he played in cycling in Ireland and in Kerry should never be forgotten and a new statue is to be unveiled to the Kerry legend so his impressive story will live on forever.

It was the dream of a small group of people from Mick Murphy’s hometown of Cahersiveen to ensure the Rás-winning cyclist was remembered with a fitting memorial.

And this dream will finally be fulfilled with plans to unveil the specially commissioned statue in his hometown later this month.

🔗Read more: https://tinyurl.com/bdeyua35