Rás Tailteann (; "Tailteann Race"), often shortened to the Rás, is an annual international cycling stage race, held in Ireland. Traditionally held in May, the race returned after a hiatus in 2022 as a five-day event held in June. By naming the race the original organisers, members of the National Cycling Association (NCA), were associating the cycle race with the Tailteann Games, a Gaelic festival in early medieval Ireland.

The event was founded by Joe Christle in 1953"Death of former cycling supremo Joe Christle" Irish Independent Accessed date: 30 May 2009 and was organised under the rules of the National Cycling Association (NCA). At that time competitive cycling in Ireland was deeply divided between three cycling organisations, the NCA, Cumann Rothaiochta na hÉireann (CRÉ) and the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation (NICF). The Rás Tailteann was the biggest race that the NCA organised each year.

As a result of a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) motion, the NCA was banned from international races and all teams affiliated with the UCI were banned from competing in races organised by the NCA. Therefore, only teams that were not affiliated with the UCI or who were willing to take the chance of serving a suspension for competing in the Rás Tailteann competed in the Rás Tailteann. During this time the NCA cyclists achieved prominence in the Rás with Gene Mangan, Sé O'Hanlon and Paddy Flanagan being several legends of the race. Mangan won only one Rás but featured in the race throughout the 1960s and early-1970s winning a total of 12 stages while O'Hanlon won the race four times and won 24 stages. Flanagan won the Rás three times and had 11 stage wins.

The NCA and the CRÉ together with NICF began unification talks in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result, a CRÉ team which included Pat McQuaid, Kieron McQuaid, Peter Morton and Peter Doyle was able to enter the race in 1974. Doyle won the race and the McQuaids won two stages each. The first Rás open to the two associations CRÉ and the NICF was in 1979 and enabled Stephen Roche to compete the event as part of the Ireland team. Roche won the event.

The race developed into a much sought after event by professional and amateur teams from many parts of the world. As part of the elite international calendar it was eligible to award qualifying points that are required for participation in Olympic Games and the UCI Road World Championships.

The first edition was held in 1953 as a two-day event but quickly developed into a week-long event. It ran every year, uninterrupted, until 2018. Following Cumann Rás Tailteann's failure to find a new principal sponsor for the race, it was announced in February 2019 that there would be no Rás that year.

The race was a UCI 2.2 event.

The race returned in 2022.

History

The official name of the race has been changed many times over the years, usually named after sponsors. An Post were the last title sponsors, although this sponsorship ended after the 2017 event.

Race names 1953 to 1967: Rás Tailteann 1968 to 1972: You Are Better Off Saving Rás Tailteann 1973: Tayto Rás Tailteann 1974 to 1976: Discover Ireland Rás Tailteann 1977 to 1980: The Health Race Rás Tailteann 1981 to 1982: Tirolia Rás Tailteann 1983: Dairy Rás Tailteann 1984 to 2004: FBD Milk Rás 2005 to 2010: FBD Insurance Rás 2011 to 2017: An Post Rás 2018 to date: Rás Tailteann

Past winners No. Year GC Winner Nationality Team Points class KOM U231 1953 Colm Christle James' Gate C.C. 2 1954 Joe O'Brien National C.C. 3 1955 Gene Mangan Kerry 4 1956 Paudie Fitzgerald Kerry 5 1957 Frank Ward Dublin 6 1958 Mick Murphy Kerry 7 1959 Ben McKenna Meath 8 1960 Paddy Flanagan Kildare 9 1961 Tom Finn Dublin Team Seán Dillon 10 1962 Sé O'Hanlon Dublin 11 1963 Zbigniew Głowaty Poland 12 1964 Paddy Flanagan Kildare 13 1965 Sé O'Hanlon Dublin 14 1966 Sé O'Hanlon Dublin 15 1967 Sé O'Hanlon Dublin 16 1968 Milan Hrazdíra Czechoslovakia 17 1969 Brian Connaughton Meath 18 1970 Aleksandr Gusyatnikov U.S.S.R. 19 1971 Colm Nulty Meath 20 1972 John Mangan Kerry 21 1973 Mike O'Donaghue Carlow 22 1974 Peter Doyle I.C.F. 23 1975 Paddy Flanagan Kildare 24 1976 Fons Steuten Netherlands 25 1977 Yuri Lavrushkin U.S.S.R. 26 1978 Séamus Kennedy Kerry 27 1979 Stephen Roche Ireland 28 1980 Billy Kerr Ireland 29 1981 Jamie McGahan Scotland 30 1982 Dermot Gilleran Ireland 31 1983 Philip Cassidy Ireland 32 1984 Stephen Delaney Dublin 33 1985 Nikolay Kosyakov 34 1986 Stephen Spratt Ireland 35 1987 Paul McCormack Longford 36 1988 Paul McCormack Ireland 37 1989 Dainis Ozols 38 1990 Ian Chivers Ireland 39 1991 Kevin Kimmage Meath 40 1992 Stephen Spratt Dublin 41 1993 Éamonn Byrne Dublin Wheelers 42 1994 Declan Lonergan Ireland 43 1995 Paul McQuaid Ireland 44 1996 Tommy Evans Armagh 45 1997 Andrew Roche Kerry 46 1998 Ciarán Power Team Ireland 47 1999 Philip Cassidy Team Ireland 48 2000 Julian Winn Wales team David McCann David McCann 49 2001 Paul Manning Great Britain team David Kopp Nicholas White 50 2002 Ciarán Power Team Ireland-Stena Line Chris Newton Julian Winn 51 2003 Chris Newton Great Britain team Jonas Holmkvist Maxim Iglinsky 52 2004 David McCann Ireland-Thornton's Recycling Team Malcolm Elliott Tobias Lergard 53 2005 Chris Newton (2) Recycling.co.uk Malcolm Elliott Mark Lovatt 54 2006 Kristian House Recycling.co.uk Morten Hegreberg Ciarán Power 55 2007 Tony Martin Thüringer Energie Team Dominique Rollin Ricardo Van der Velde 56 2008 Stephen Gallagher An Post–Sean Kelly Dean Downing Kit Gilham 57 2009 Simon Richardson Rapha Condor–recycling.co.uk Niko Eeckhout David O'Loughlin Mark McNally 58 2010 Alexander Wetterhall Team Sprocket Pro John Degenkolb Mark Cassidy Connor McConvey 59 2011 Gediminas Bagdonas An Post–Sean Kelly Shane Archbold Oleksandr Sheydyk Aaron Gate 60 2012 Nicolas Baldo Atlas Personal–Jakroo Gediminas Bagdonas David Clarke Richard Handley 61 2013 Marcin Białobłocki Owain Doull Martin Hunal Simon Yates 62 2014 Clemens Fankhauser Patrick Bevin Markus Eibegger Alex Peters 63 2015 Lukas Pöstlberger Aaron Gate Aidis Kruopis Ryan Mullen 64 2016 Clemens Fankhauser (2) Aaron Gate Nikodemus Holler Jai Hindley 65 2017 James Gullen Daan Meijers Przemysław Kasperkiewicz Michael O'Loughlin 66 2018 Luuc Bugter Luuc Bugter Lukas Rüegg Robbe Ghys 67 2022 Daire Feeley All Human–VeloRevolution Rory Townsend Dean Harvey Louis Sutton 68 2023 Dillon Corkery Team Ireland (CC Étupes) Matthew Fox Conor McGoldrick Aaron Wade 69 2024 Dom Jackson Foran CT Tim Shoreman Dean Harvey Liam O'Brien 70 2025First Cycling – 2025 Results (Accessed 26/8/25) George Kimber CC Isle of Man (Spirit Racing Team) Odhran Doogan Adam Lewis Jamie Meehan

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