Mayo cycling legend to be commemorated when Rás Táilteann arrives in county

Friday next will be a whirlwind of emotions for the Castlebar Cycling Club team competing in this year’s Rás Táilteann.

Not alone will stage three finish in the county town but the stage is dedicated to a stalwart of cycling in the town, Tommy Devereux, who passed away last December.

The five-man Castlebar team are targeting a strong stage on Friday and team leader Karl Benson is hoping they can honour Tommy’s memory in the stage, which finishes on Lannagh Road.

“Having the stage three finish in Castlebar is massive for everyone on our Rás team, also everyone from our club, our family and friends who support us throughout the year.

"What makes it even more special is it is dedicated to Tommy Devereux, who was a massive part of the Castlebar club, a massive feature of my childhood in the club, supporting us in races, so to be able to cross the line in Castlebar, hopefully in a front position, is very special and we’re looking forward to it on the day.

“The big target for me in the Rás is to be in the top 10 sprinting for the line in Castlebar. It will be a very competitive field this year but we will give it our very best shot,” Benson said.

Now 26 years old, Benson recalls Tommy Devereux as a leading figure in the club when he started his own journey.

“Tommy was a huge figure in cycling in the town. When I was first starting out, he would always be there with a few wise words to motivate you.

"He really helped to put the club on the map nationally and all over the country when people would see the club jersey, so many of them would mention Tommy’s name,” he said.

The club’s Rás team are sponsored by Unit 7. Benson recalls fondly watching the Rás finish in Castlebar in 2009, when he was in national school. While some of his friends dreamed of playing in All-Ireland finals, his dream was to compete in and complete a Rás.

He got to fulfill that dream last year with Castlebar Cycling Club. Despite a slow start in stage one, he crossed the finish line at the end of the Rás in Blackrock, Co. Louth.

This year, he is hoping to step it up a level. “Last year was probably more about participating. Finishing the Rás is an achievement in of itself and plenty of people drop out. This year I want to be in the mix and kick on a gear,” he said.

He has been racing every weekend bar one since the beginning of March and a strong display in the Rás Mumhan ‘went very well’, leaving him in a good place heading into the premier cycling event of the year.

Benson got involved in cycling at a young age after watching his brother older Luke compete and while he played Gaelic football and soccer in his teens as well, when he hit 17 he focused on cycling.

However, he took a break in college when studies brought him to the USA. After finishing college in 2019, he started working in Dublin as a technology consultant with SAP. Covid brought him back to Castlebar in 2020 and opened the door for a return to cycling.

“The longing to do it was still there so in 2021 I committed to competing in the 2022 Rás,” he said.

It involves training 15 hours a week from November to August and diet involves getting in an eye-opening 4,000 calories a day during the season. It’s a big time commitment and Benson is often training alone in Dublin while his team-mates run out at home.

But competing for his hometown club clearly means a lot to him. “Racing for the club in the Rás is a great thing. There is so much time put into us by the club, people like John Brennan and being able to race for the club is a big motivation. I would have grown up watching David Walsh, Chris Troy and David Brennan competing in the Rás and wanting to emulate them.

“We take a lot of pride in being a local club with local sponsors and local riders. We’ve stayed loyal because we’ve been so well looked after.

“It would be easier to race with a team in Dublin given I’m based there but I made a conscious decision to stay with Castlebar given the years of support I’ve got. There is great craic too on the team, a great camaraderie.

“We’ve a nice mix of abilities, all of us have a different card to play at some stage in the Rás.”