Dillon Corkery taking a no-pressure approach to Rás Tailteann title defence

He pulled off an incredible coup last year in nabbing the yellow jersey on what is normally a processional final stage, and now Dillon Corkery is back to chase more

“I’m in that list now with a lot of special people in cycling,” said Corkery ahead of Wednesday’s first stage. “And with stage winners like Sam Bennett and John Degenkolb, it’s pretty cool. I was out today training with Eddie Dunbar, another stage winner.Five things we learned from the US PGA Championship: Shane Lowry back as Major threat“I think I definitely gained a level of respect inside the cycling community. I got a message from Ciarán Power.

Corkery will once again be part of the Irish national squad. Aside from having his own ambitions, he will act as road captain to four under-23 riders in Dean Harvey, Odhrán Doogan, Liam Crowley and Liam O’Brien, who was a superb third overall in the recent Flèche du Sud.“If I could win it again this year it’d be super, but I’m not putting any pressure on myself,” he said. “I’m going to focus on a stage again, like I did last year.

Corkery will be up against many strong riders and teams, including 15 overseas squads. There are nine from the UK, including the Richardsons Trek DAS squad of last year’s stage one winner McGoldrick, the rider who Corkery deposed on the final day. Corkery will be feted at the start of a much tougher stage two, with that leg beginning in his hometown of Kanturk and featuring six categorised climbs en route to Sneem in Kerry.

Day four includes the second category one climb of the race, that of Gorteen. But while the other climbs include a pair of second category ascents between Castlecomer and Carlow, a flatter 60km run in to the finish in Kildare town may well see a partial or full regrouping.

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