Tommy Evans won the Tour of Ulster in 1998 and 2004

Evans won the race in 1998 and 2004 and is also a former FBD Milk Ras winner.

Timmy Barry, who won in 2001 and 2003, is also a confirmed entry while other former winners in the field include Philip Cassidy and Stephen O'Sullivan.

Other top contenders will include Olympic Games rider Ciaran Power, Emyvale man Conor Murphy, Andrew Roche and Paul Helion.

Murphy and Gunn compete for the strong Murphy & Gunn team which also includes last year's opening stage winner John Dempsey.

Main sponsors for this year's race are Newry and Mourne District Council, Cookstown District Council and Omagh District Council.

Abmopticians.com are sponsoring the King of the Mountains competition and the Irish News is backing the under-23 category.

The race gets underway from Newry City Football Club on Saturday at 1145 BST with sign on open from 10.00am, and the opening stage is expected to finish in Omagh at around 1515.

Sunday's road stage leaves form Omagh Sports Centre at 1100 with an expected finish at Cookstown at around 1430 with an evening time trial following at 1700 on the Moneymore to Cookstown dual carriageway.

Monday's final stage starts from the Mid-Ulster Sports Arena at 1100.