Team Microgaming Isle of Man’s senior cycling team made their 2012 debut at the Ras Mumhan in the Republic of Ireland over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The five man team of Andy Roche, Darren Bell, Elliot Baxter, Aaron Livsey and Graeme Hatcher all finished in the bunch on the opening stage on Good Friday - a 101km race starting and finishing in Killorglin, East Kerry. Bell and Baxter put in strong performances on stage two which was a hilly 130km race starting in Dingle and finishing at the top of Conor Pass. Bell finished 17th, 1m 27s behind stage winner Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne). Baxter was 23rd, 1m 59s behind the stage winner.

The evergreen Andy Roche finished seventh on stage three on Easter Sunday - a 142km leg starting and finishing in Waterville, South Kerry. He was in a break which went away almost as soon as the flag dropped to start the stage and finished only 29 seconds behind stage winner Conor Murphy (Eurocycles). His team mates all finished in the bunch, including Livsey who had worked incredibly hard to try and cross the gap to the break to assist Roche. The speed throughout the stage was such that almost half of the elite riders in the field were dropped by the main bunch. Easter Monday’s fourth and final stage was raced in lashing rain all day. It finished on a tight four mile circuit and Hatcher and Bell withdrew from the race when they reached the finishing circuit to save their strength for another day after being dropped by the leaders.

Aaron Livsey was the first man home for Team Microgaming Isle of Man on the final stage crossing the line in 17th place. He was 50 seconds behind stage winner Dennis Bakker and it was the Dutchman, riding for the Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielereteam squad, who was crowned the overall winner of the Ras Mumhan. Baxter finished 39th on the final stage in the same time as Livsey, while Roche finished in the peloton. In the final general classification Baxter was 22nd, 3m 47s behind Bakker, Livsey 43rd  @7m 32s, and Roche 74th  @29m 26s.

Team Microgaming Isle of Man Team Manager Gary Hinds commented: “The race was extremely hard this year and attracted two Dutch teams and one Italian team, along with English squads from Surrey, Felt Colbornes RT, Primal Europe and teams from across Ireland, both north and south. The weather on the final stage with freezing rain all day made the race even tougher, but all the lads rode well against some very tough competition.”