Ryan aims ‘four’ Tour of North history books

RYAN Connor admits he won’t care about a personal milestone going astray if he can rewrite his name in local cycling’s record books this weekend.

The Ahoghill star saw his sequence of winning the sport’s flagship event in Northern Ireland - the P&O Tour of the North - in 2004, 2006 and 2008 come to an end in 2010.

Nevertheless, the 27-year-old won’t care at all if it takes until 2011 to become the first rider in the event’s long history to win the prestigious title for a fourth time - he currently shares the record of three wins with Englishman Stan Brittain, who won the gruelling race three years on the trot in the 1950s.

“Of course I still have the desire to win the race for a fourth time,” Connor told Times Sport.

“I was well down the field last year - I lost it on the Sunday stage.”

With the event sticking to its traditional Easter weekend slot, the fact that Easter is later this year might well have played havoc with many competitors’ preparations, but it could yet benefit Connor.

“With the bad weather over the winter and with me changing jobs, my preparations maybe aren’t as far advanced as they would have been at this time in previous years.

“I’ve recently started a job as a personal trainer with LA Fitness in Belfast so hopefully I will have the opportunity to top up my fitness ahead of the Tour.

“It’s pretty much a new course this year with different stages so I won’t be able to draw too much upon my past experiences.

“The one thing in my favour is that a couple of the stages, from Portadown to Ballymena and from Ballymena to Carrickfergus are two roads that would be on my normal training routes.”

Connor’s stellar career has been stalled somewhat by a mystery heart condition which has plagued him over recent years.

He has also moved into the administrative side of the sport and he will once again be rider/manager of the Cycling Ulster team, after a successful debut in that role in 2010 when Cycling Ulster’s Philip Lavery won the coveted title.

“I got an awful lot of satisfaction out of Philip winning it last year - he kind of got away while riders were watching other riders and it was great to see him win because people who don’t follow the sport closely maybe don’t appreciate the tactical side of the sport and the team aspect.

“I’m really pleased with the team we have again this year, which includes brothers Conor and Leo McAllister, from the Ballymena area.

“It’s going to be a really open race this year - there are a lot of strong names in it plus you could get an overseas rider who is a completely unknown element,” added Ryan.

The Ballymena borough gets two bites of the action on this year’s Tour - firstly on Easter Saturday when the race arrives via Portglenone before finishing at Galgorm, where the riders are due at approximately 1.50pm.

Then after Easter Sunday’s stage at Limavady, the final day’s action begins in Ballymena on Easter Monday on the Larne Road (11.15am) before heading to Larne and the race finale at Carrickfergus.

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