The Rás has a worldwide reputation of being a gruelling challenge in the elite, international calendar, with the open racing style allowing amateur county and club riders to pit themselves against domestic and international professionals. The 2017 Ras has a total of 195 riders, making it the biggest field since 2005. In total there were 39 five-man teams, with 13 of those being international squads. As cycling enthusiasts, the Company sponsored a team from The Bike House Cycling Club, which included:
- Darnell Moore: Riding his 2nd Ras. Good form having scored top 6 results all season. Last year was 1st County Rider on Stage 4.
- David Watson: Riding his 5th Ras. Winner of 2015 Tour of the North and Ulster Road Race Championship, last year was 2nd placed County Rider on Stage 8 after over 700 miles of racing.
- James Ambrose: Riding his 2nd Ras. Consistent all season and is looking forward to moving up the results sheet.
- Adam Armstrong: Riding his 9th Ras. The former Tour of the North and Tour of Ulster winner. Had a previous 2nd place overall stage finish, while recovering from a nasty crash.
- Lewis Ferguson: Riding his 2nd Ras. Former World Police & Fire Games Mountain Bike Champion.
Stage 1, Dublin to Longford (146.1km): A good day for the team, finishing safely after a 27mph average.
Stage 2, Longford to Newport (142.9km).
Stage 3, Newport to Bundoran (149km): The team covered the relatively flat stage at an average speed of 27mph,
Stage 4, Bundoran to Buncrana (151.8km): Finishing the day sitting in a comfortable 3rd place in the County Team competition thanks to outstanding performances from Darnell, David, and Lewis on the categorised climbs, and hard riding from Adam and James who helped get them get through the first 2 hours of racing at over 30mph average!
Stage 5, Buncrana to Dungloe (181.2km): The team got top County Team on the Stage, and consolidated out 3rd place overall on GC. It was a really hard day, with temperatures reaching 28 degrees!
Stage 6, Dungloe to Donegal (132.1km): A crazy day, with cross winds on exposed mountain tops that split the race.
Stage 7, Donegal to Ardee (167.3km): Included 3 laps of the local circuit, which includes the notorious Blacks Hill assent, just to make sure the legs hurt a little more before it’s all over.
Stage 8, Ardee to Skerries (129.4km): All five Club riders got to the finish safely after covering 746 miles, with an average speed just over 27 mph.
The guys finished 4th County Team and had 2 riders in the top 10 County overall rider classification!
