April 2008 Galway to Host Ireland's Largest Amateur Four-Day Cycling Event

Details of Ireland's largest amateur four-day cycling event, the Kellogg's Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge, have been announced. Over 300 riders accompanied by 60 support staff will travel over 500 miles through the four provinces of Ireland. All proceeds from the event will go towards the National Council for the Blind of Ireland.

The Challenge starts in Lisburn, Co Down on Friday 9th May and finishes in Lucan, Co. Dublin on Monday 12th May. 2008 is the second year that NUI Galway has hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge, with the official finish line of stage 2 of the event located at the Aula Maxima (Quadrangle) in the University's grounds on Saturday 10th May. The grounds of the 163 year old University are a magnificent platform for the end of the Cavan to Galway stage of the Kellogg's Tour of Ireland. Participants will embark on stage 3 of the challenge from NUI Galway on Sunday 11th May. The public are invited to come out and cheer on the cyclists and enjoy the great spectacle.

Last year's inaugural Challenge was a great success and this year's promises to be bigger and better. In 2007, 125 cyclists entered and the 2007 challenge was voted the best organised event of its type by the international cycling community.

The Challenge encourages people to exercise and participate in healthy sporting activities. It complements NUI Galway's commitment to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. This commitment is evidenced by its flagship new sports complex which is opening this year.

Event Director, Marc Barr said: "2007 was a lot of hard work and we achieved much more than we had expected. The numbers already entered this year underscore the great reaction we have had from the international cycling community. Thank you to our partner NUI Galway for the great efforts put in by everyone to make the event a success. The Kellogg's Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge is all about promoting healthy activity for all in an enjoyable and fun way. This fits very well with NUI Galway's commitment to sporting activities. We very much appreciate their association and look forward to working with them again this year."

Stephen Twaddell, Managing Director of Kellogg's said: "We are delighted to support this event which is an important part of our Let's Get Active initiative – a community-based programme of events, designed to help people in Ireland get active and have fun while raising money for a good cause. As the Tour snakes its way across Ireland next month, we hope it will inspire people to get on their own bikes and discover the pleasure of getting active. We congratulate the organisers for what looks like being another world-class event and we send a big thank you to local communities who embrace the event as it passes through their own county."

The Kellogg's Tour of Ireland is a cycle challenge open to all amateur cyclists. It attracts entrants from all over the island of Ireland and overseas. It is a non-competitive challenge whereby each participant competes against the elements and their own levels of fitness and endurance. It consists of four stages:

9th May: Stage 1 Lisburn to Cavan 115 miles 10th May: Stage 2 Cavan to Galway 124 miles 11th May: Stage 3 start at 8am NUI Galway, Galway to Kilkenny 140 miles 12th May: Stage 4 Kilkenny to Dublin 123 miles

The Kellogg's Tour of Ireland event organisers Joe and Marc Barr, are both well-known cyclists. Joe has competed for Ireland and N. Ireland as a professional and has put together the four stages. Marc is the logistics expert and ensures that everything is in place to ensure a safe, exciting and enjoyable event.

Further details on the event can be found at www.tourofireland.eu

For information on Kellogg's Let's Get Active programme visit www.letsgetactive.ie.