Chris Newton, race winner: ‘It is fantastic to win this race. I came into it not really thinking about the overall - I was going to try and do my best, obviously, but I would have been happy with a stage win. I didn't know that my form was good. But I took that first stage win and then got yellow. I had a great team, not just riders but staff as well, and also in the hotels the hospitality has been fantastic. Racing here is very enjoyable.’
‘I did a few tests just before I came away... They suggested that my form is not fantastic but that it is going in the right direction. I had ridden here before and knew some of the roads, and knew what to expect and how to approach the race. It worked out quite well.’
‘A lot of credit goes to my team, they controlled the race really well. Without those I don't think I could have won this race. It is a difficult event but they gave everything to keep me in yellow.’
‘My goal is now are the national road race championships and the Tour of Britain. The nationals are quite long so we will see how it goes, then do the Tour of Britain and whatever else, really. It is fantastic to win this race, though, so I am happy enough for now’
Bill Moore, stage winner: ‘I think I was more surprised than anyone. I just got an opening just before the last corner. I knew from riding the races in the Park that if you sprint hard, hard, hard around that corner and keep going to the line, barring accident you might come out in front. I looked back with 100 metres to go and couldn’t believe I had such a gap.’
‘I didn’t get clear of them at the corner, there were about ten riders ahead of me there but I just had the impetus from going around the corner and just kept going to the line.’
‘This is a dream for me. I think I did 1,000 miles in December and January in South Africa for this. I thought yesterday was my day – I tried very, very hard to win then. Myself and Sean Lacey got up the road and I gave it everything. When I got caught on the Sally Gap, I thought I would have no chance to win one. So I had absolutely no pressure on myself today, just said I would give it everything. I came out on top…I am chuffed. This is my tenth Rás and my 101st stage. I would ride 101 again if I got to win a stage. This makes up for all the hardship, all the pain over the years. I am delighted.’
‘I have been in great form this year. I won three good races in South Africa, then came back to Ireland and won the Conor Coombes Memorial and finished second in the Noel Hammond race in Ballyboughil the week before the Rás.’
‘I did look after myself quite a bit in the race, but I had only come home two and a half weeks before the Rás and the cold really got to me in the early part of the week. But as the week went on, my legs were improving and I was recovering very well.’
The basis for Moore’s good form is in his move abroad last season. ‘I went to South Africa on the 15th of August last year, raced until November and then took a two or three week break before starting to knuckle down again. I went out there because I have a South African girlfriend. I was saying to my team-mates that I was going to try to win a stage of the Rás – I got picked for them after I won a stage of the Tour of Eden last year. The guys were slagging me about that, a lot of them know how hard the Rás is because quite a few of them have ridden it. I was texting them every day and they were texting me back, asking me how I got on. It is going to be amazing to let them know that I won.’
‘My plan is that I am going to race for a couple of months here and then take a break in July. I will go back to South Africa and race from August right through until November again.’
Malcolm Elliott, second overall and points jersey winner: ‘I am happy to get the points jersey, but right now I am just seething about the finish. My gears wouldn't work, I couldn't get it to drop onto the 12 when I wanted it to. It left me high and dry, right when I was about to go. I was in the perfect position. I am confident that I would have been top three, and probably could have won it.’
‘I was waiting and waiting for the gear to change, got swamped, and then had my spokes taken out by a rider who swung across me. I'm pretty angry right now.’
‘I am happy with second place overall but am feeling bitter-sweet right now. It is a shame, right now I am just really annoyed. I have the perfect lead out, I was on the wheel ready to go but couldn't get the gear to launch my sprint. It just wouldn't go. In hindsight, I should have just stayed in the 13 and continued on, but you have less than the second to get the right gear and go. The timing is that crucial. When you get delayed by something, it is impossible. I got delayed three or four seconds by what happened.’
Mark Lovatt, KOM winner: ‘I was not really that optimistic going into Saturday as regards the mountains jersey. I got dropped on the first category one (Slieveman), anyway! I just wanted to do a bit of racing and then once I got away I realised that I could take it if I managed to get most of the points. I did that, and then was up to other riders to get points as well, really. I was still unsure after the last climb, if I had won it.’
‘This is my first time getting it jersey in this race. I was third in 2000, and had the yellow jersey for a while.’
Tim Barry, best Irishman overall in sixth place: ‘I am happy, and tired! I was hoping for a high GC place going into the race. Yanto Barker ended up fourth, one second ahead, and I missed out on fifth place due to stage placings – we were on the same time. If someone said beforehand that I would be sixth and first Irish rider, I would have taken it. But I am a little disappointed as I missed the break on the second day – if I hadn’t done that, I would have been right up there. I lost two minutes. When the break went, I started chasing. I closed to within 40 seconds, then heard that Evan Oliphant was coming across. So I waited for him, thinking the two of us would have a better chance. As it turns out, he wasn’t strong enough to help so I left him. But by then I was too far back.’
‘I think a lot of people were surprised with how I rode but I have won the Tour of Ulster twice and finished on the podium in the Tour of Munster three times. I realised this year that it wasn’t possible to race hard all season, but that it was necessary to build up for the Rás. I think I am still learning – I raced as a junior years ago but then stopped the bike. I came back but have only been a senior for 6 years, so I am still building experience and knowledge. Last year I was unlucky because I heard late that I was on the team for the Tour de Langkawi. I ramped up my training to be ready, punctured and crashed in the race so was unlucky there, but then came back and had very good form. It meant that by the time the Ras came around, I was getting tired. So I planned to do things differently this year.’
‘I trained well and built up form gradually. I got an offer to ride the Tour of Turkey with the Murphy and Gunn team – they had a place at short notice so I went there. It worked out pretty well, I finished seventh overall and it helped me get some good racing in before the Rás. The plan after this is to do the Tour of Serbia in two weeks time with the Dan Morrissey team. It will probably be quite a high level so I am not sure what to expect there. I will just take it as it comes.’
Rory Wyley, member of Tipperary Dan Morrissey (best county team): ‘It all went down to yesterday, it was 50-50 if we could pull it off. It goes down to the third man and Brian Truman did a great ride for him in the mountains. He is a big guy. Myself and Timmy were in the front group, but our third counter was the important one. That was Brian, he came in ahead of Sully (Stephen O’Sullivan). That was the difference.’
