Chris Newton - Overall winner

With the FBD Insurance Rás concluding today with a flat, one hour criterium, the nature of the stage meant that Chris Newton’s final overall victory was not unexpected. The GB Recycling.co.uk rider started the day with a fourteen second advantage over closest rival Malcolm Elliott and was seen as almost certain to win provided he avoided punctures, crashes and mechanical problems.

What was a big surprise was the identity of the stage winner. Bill Moore (Meath – M. Donnelly) has been in fine form this year due to a winter of good training in South Africa, but it would be fair to say that Newton, Malcolm Elliott, Morten Hegreberg or another such fast finisher would have been more expected to carry off the honours. But the Irishman picked his moment perfectly to open up his sprint, getting a slight gap on the rest of the field and then showing great speed to hold off the bunch’s charge. Moore beat Julian Winn (Wales – Stena Line) and Hegreberg (Norway – Sparebanken Vest) plus the 153 other riders left in the race to take his best ever career result.

Bill Moore sprinting to his 1st stage win

Moore started his tenth Rás eight days ago dreaming of a stage win and made a big bid on yesterday’s stage through the Wicklow Mountains. He was clear in a nine-man breakaway but when he was hauled back towards the end, he thought he had lost out on whatever chance he had of turning that dream into a reality. Things worked out perfectly today, though, his legs, tactics and luck all combining to out-think and out-kick the international riders in the race.

Olympic medallist and world champion track rider Newton did not contest the sprint but in finishing in the same time as all of his rivals, he cemented his win in the 2005 FBD Insurance Rás. He adds this win to his victory in the 2003 edition, becoming the first ever overseas competitor to win two editions of the race.

Runner-up Elliott had problems with his gears and was then barged in the sprint, losing several spokes, but in finishing ahead of Newton and close enough to Hegreberg he beat both in the battle for the points title. Mark Lovatt’s strong ride yesterday ensured he took the mountains jersey, while Tim Barry was best Irishman in sixth place overall. He had started the day fifth, level on time with Newton’s team-mate Rob Sharman, but with the latter finishing four places ahead of him in the final sprint, moved down to sixth. Barry’s Tipperary – Dan Morrissey squad were first Irish county team, while the top international line-up was Yorkshire – Trinity Capital.

In the other competitions, Stuart Gillespie (US - TIAA CREF) won the Ben McKenna trophy as top under 23 rider, Barry was best county rider overall and namesake Barry Meehan took the second category award.

As expected, Newton was delighted to add to his 2003 Rás title. ‘I came into the race thinking my form was good, but not great,’ he said. ‘Taking three stage wins plus the overall is special. It’s great to win this event again, the Rás is a super race.’

Equally chuffed was Moore. ‘This is my tenth Rás and 101st stage, and I am absolutely delighted. I trained and raced in South Africa since last year in order to chase my dream of a stage win. I tried hard on Saturday but when it didn’t work out, I thought I had lost my chance. There was no pressure on me today as a result. I picked my moment perfectly and it worked out great.’

How it happened:

Mild, bright weather and a good crowd greeted the 156 starters on today’s concluding stage of the race, a pancake flat circuit race held in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. Racing got underway just after three o’clock and, as expected, it was a controlled affair. Chris Newton’s GB – Recycling.co.uk team, the Norway-Sparebanken Vest squad and the Wales – Stena  Line riders did what they could to keep things together and set things up for a sprint finish.

Several riders did succeed in getting a brief gap on the main field, but most of these efforts related to the four Cycleways primes which were up for grabs.

The first of these went to former KOH leader Eugene Moriarty (Meath – Cycleways.com), who  jumped away just before the line to finish about a second clear of Kristian House (Britain – Fujibikes) and his team-mate Aidan Crowley.

Three laps later, Richard Kooijman (Netherlands – Kennemerland) outsprinted Thornsten Wiedenroth (Germany – Stevens von Hacht) by about half a bike length to take prime two. Number three went to Kristian House (Britain – Fujibikes), who took a flyer over a lap in advance of the sprint and held off the chasing efforts of first Mark Cassidy (Meath – Cycleways.com) and then Dave Reilly (Dublin IRC Moy Isover) and Tommy Evans (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital) to collect the cash.

Once they were reeled in, Ian Paine (Dublin Excel Ravens) made a short-lived bid for freedom. Another Irishman, Simon Kelly (Cork Nucleus) then took the final prime ahead of Reilly. From there until the finish the Norway – Sparebanken Vest and the GB – Recycling.co.uk battened down the hatches, controlling things and ensuring a bunch gallop.

Newton was expected to try to repeat his stage 8 victory of 2002 but instead he found himself at the front with one lap to go. Conscious that he had to beat the GB Recycling.co.uk rider by at least three places to scoop the points jersey, and psyched by his win here twelve months ago Elliott manoevered himself into position and was in the right place with 200 metres to go. However he was unable to engage the 12 sprocket in the sprint and, to add near injury to that frustration, the 43 year old fastman was switched badly by another rider, losing spokes and nearly going down.

Meanwhile, Moore had timed his move to perfection and held off Winn and Hegreberg for what was a superb and emotional victory. Fellow Irishmen Simon Kelly (Cork Nucleus) and Eugene Moriarty completed the top five, while an angry Elliott limped home in 13^th place. His chance of a second stage win was gone but the green jersey and second overall were, upon reflection, more than adequate consolation.

Further back in 28^th place a satisfied Newton wheeled across the line, his second Rás win secure. The Englishman came into the race unconvinced that he was going well, but certainly proved this week that he was a level above the rest of the field. He will now continue to build towards the British national championships and the Tour of Britain, while runner-up Elliott is considering a crack at the world masters championship. Other goals beckon, but both will look back on the past eight days with satisfaction. So too the rest of the field, who helped make this an aggressive, exciting edition of the Irish tour.