Cycle Club Isle of Man returns to action this week as it aims to defend the Rás Tailteann title it won 12 months ago.

Guest rider, 25-year-old George Kimber from Cambridge, stormed to overall victory in the prestigious Irish race this time last year. Manx cycling stalwart Andrew Roche also won the event in 1997.

Spearheading the Manx charge this time will be Commonwealth Games-bound Matthew Bostock and fellow professional Zac Walker. They will be joined in the team by fellow Manxie Owen Collins and guest riders Rowan Barker and Daniel Stone.

A spokesperson for the club said: ‘This year will be Cycling Club Isle of Man’s fifth appearance at the event, and it will be even more special than before as we will return as defending champions. It was an absolute honour to win the overall classification with George Kimber last season, and we wear the distinction of defending champions with pride.

‘Once again, we will go into this year’s race with the aim of representing the Cycling Club Isle of Man colours by giving it everything we have.

‘With this strong roster, we’re confident that we can be at the sharp end of the action throughout the five days of racing.’

This year’s Rás began on Wednesday (May 20) from Portlaoise in Laoise and will finish in Dunboyne in Meath.

Along the way it will take in stages in Carlow, Cork, Kerry, Wicklow and Wexford, covering 785 kilometres.

As ever, it will be a challenging route with some tricky climbing to navigate along the way.