An Post Tour de Burren Attracts Record Numbers Of Cyclists

Over 2,500 cyclists rode in the An Post Tour de Burren in association with the Irish Sports Council which took place in North Clare on Saturday the 18th of June.

Cyclists had four routes to choose from; the 10 km Aillwee Cave Family Loop which was all about fun, enjoyment and participation, the 60 Km Corkscrew Challenge which took cyclists from Ballyvaughan up Corkscrew Hill, a grade 2 King of the Mountains climb on the An Post Rلs; the 100k Burren 100 with two challenging climbs and the Burnin Burren spin which offered cyclists a 160km journey through North Clare on a route that took in a number of Grade 2 King of the Mountains climbs, one of which brought riders past the world famous Cliffs of Moher.

John Treacy, CEO of the Irish Sports Council was keen to stress the importance of local effort to promote exercise, "The whole purpose of the An Post Cycle Series is to get people active. Last year over 10,000 riders took part in the series throughout the country and this year we should exceed that number. The Irish Sports Council is very grateful to Clare Sports Partnerships and to all the voluntary effort by groups such as the Burren Cycling Club in helping us to achieve our aim of getting more people involved in sport and exercise. Today local volunteers assisted in meeting the needs of over 2,000 cyclists and that is a tremendous achievement."

John Sweeney, the Coordinator of Clare Sports Partnership commented, “the An Post Tour de Burren is now seen as a premium cycling event in Ireland that appeals to a wide variety of cyclists. It is really heartening to see so many cyclists out on the Clare roads, all working to the best of their own ability. One of our aims this year was to increase the number of female cyclists and we are really glad to see that we achieved that aim.”