Image credit Inpho.ie / Tommy Grealy
The An Post Rás came to an end for 2014 in Skerries, County Dublin yesterday with Austria’s Clemens Fankhauser holding onto the 25 second lead he had taken on Thursday between Cahirciveen and Clonakilty.
The race benefitted this year from it’s proximity to the Grand Depart of the Giro d’Italia which had lit up interest between Belfast and Dublin only one week before its start.
This is the fourth year of the an Post sponsorship of the race and it is one that the company clearly puts a lot of time and energy into.
“Together, An Post and the Rás bring incredible racing around the country and we receive massive support from communities all along the route,” said an Post CEO Donal Connell.
“The 2014 route has delivered another special edition of the race and An Post is pleased to confirm that we will continue our sponsorship for Rás and through this, our support for Irish Cycling into 2015.”
A special new feature of the race this year was the introduction of a ‘C-Factor’ classification for county riders that stood out on the road as well as through social media.
This was won by Eoin McCarthy and Brian McCrystal who will now join the An Post Sean Kelly Chainreaction team as part of a training camp in Spain and bring closer their personal dreams of riding on the full time professional circuit.
It was a good introduction to the race and expanded both the amount and quality of the content coming through from the race on twitter, Facebook and instagram.
With social media an increasingly vital part of the way in which sponsors judge the reach of their investment the credit of a particular classification relating to participants use of their personal channels is likely to increase dramatically in the coming months and years.
