Defending champion Chris Newton showed he means business when he won the opening stage of the 2006 FBD Insurance Rás in Enniscorthy today. The Britain Recyling.co.uk rider took the victory and the first yellow jersey of the race when he profited from a rare error by 1996 winner Tommy Evans, the Dublin IRC Usher Insulation rider throwing his arms in the air before the line and thus enabling Newton to lunge by. Evans lost out by the width of a tyre on what would have been his sixth Rás stage win, and was understandably frustrated at the finish.
In contrast, Newton was delighted with how things turned out. “I thought my team-mate Rob Sharman would get it but Tommy countered. It was looking good for him but I started my sprint from 300 metres out and just got by him at the line.”
“It’s great to get yellow,” he added, smiling. “I’ve seen the weather reports for the week so it will be good to have another clean jersey!”
Evans regretted what could have been. “I made a mess of it,” he admitted after the prize presentation. “Newton’s team-mate Rob Sharman went with about 1600 metres to go, I set off in pursuit with about a kilometre remaining and passed him 600 metres from the line. My legs were tying up all the way to the line…I could see Newton closing but it looked like he was going to try to get by on the right. I moved over slightly, closing the door on him, and thought that was enough. But I put my arms up too early. I’m really annoyed with myself.”
“I have won five Rás stages in my career and made a boo-boo in two others,” he continued. “Today is one, and the other was in Donegal a couple of years ago when I pulled my foot out of the pedal just before the line. I actually felt rough today, really bad – I had a cold after the Tour of Ulster and took a week completely off the bike. My goal here is to target a stage win…I had a great chance today, it’s a pity I messed it up.”
Two seconds after the sprint, Joe McDonnell (Australia FRF Couriers) led home the main bunch of riders. He, Evans and Newton had been part of a ten man break which was clear in the closing stages, the bunch finally getting up to them in the sprint.
Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) was fourth, with Benjamin Hill (Germany Stevens) and Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) filling the other places in the top six. Sharman, who may have won had Evans not succeeded in bringing him back, took seventh.
Once all the time bonuses were calculated, Newton was left with a four second lead over Evans, with Power’s fourteenth place on the stage being boosted by the first and second he got in hotspot sprints. He will start tomorrow’s 180 kilometre leg to Cobh third overall, five seconds off the lead. He is also to the fore in the King of the Mountains competition, having 14 points to Lucasz Modzelewski’s eight.
Joe McDonnell is fourth overall, eight seconds back, with Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Mike Friedman and Modzelewski a further second in arrears.
O’Brien’s aggression on the stage and placing in the hotspot sprints sees him end the day ninth overall, 11 seconds back. However another strong Irish rider saw his general classification aspirations suffer a cruel blow. Ireland Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group leader Paul Healion crashed just outside the final three kilometre ‘safe zone’ and lost 5 minutes and 10 seconds. He will now target a stage win in the 2.2 ranked event.
How it happened:
144 riders lined out in wet conditions for the opening stage of the FBD Insurance Rás. Starting in Tallaght, the first leg took them on a mainly flat route from there to Enniscorthy, covering 121 kilometres and two categorised climbs along the way.
The first of these, the category two ascent of the Embankment, started after just 1.2 kilometres of racing and these slopes plus an attack by Johannes Sickmuller (Germany Team Stevens) put some riders out the back very early on. Sickmuller was caught soon afterwards, after which Ciarán Power (Éireann Dan Morrissey), Lukasz Modzelewski, Bartlomiej Matysiak and Jaroslaw Welniak (all Poland Legia Bazylisek) took the KOM points at the summit. The prime line was also acting as a Hot Spot Sprint so the first three riders took bonuses of three, two and one seconds.
Next to attack was 2001 US under 23 champion Mike Friedman (USA TIAA-CREF), who launched an attack shortly after the top and quickly opened a lead of 15 seconds. Paídi O’Brien (Ireland Grant Thornton), Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) and Tamas Lengyel (Norway Sparebanken Vest) set off in pursuit, but road and track rider Friedman’s speed saw the 23 year old pull further and further ahead.
By Naas, 28 kilometres after the start, he had 1 minute and 15 seconds over the three chasers and 1 minute and 40 seconds on the main bunch. O’Brien, Matysiak and Tamas Lengyel were recaptured soon afterwards, while Friedman pressed on and took three seconds in time bonuses at the Hot Spot Sprint in Kilcullen (40 kilometres). Double FBD Ras champion Ciarán Power took second here, adding to what he collected in the first sprint, while Modzelewski did likewise by netting third.
After 1 hour of racing a tailwind-assisted Friedman had covered a very fast 48.3 kilometres and was 1 minute and 2 seconds clear. However, the main field were making inroads and after 50 kilometres of racing they had reduced his advantage to 54 seconds.
This lead continued to fall and approximately 8 kilometres before Castledermot (66 kilometres) he was caught. He had been clear for just over an hour and had picked up a hard-fought three bonus seconds, but also showed that he is one to watch this week.
The next King of the Mountains/Hot Spot Sprint combination came on the far side of Castledermot, where Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) took full points at the top of the category three climb. Power was second once again, while O’Brien took third ahead of Sickmuller. Martin Prazdnovsky (Norway Sparebanken Vest) went clear shortly afterwards and opened a lead of 20 seconds, but was recaptured after about fifteen minutes.
Vincent Gleeson (Kerry Earl of Desmond) then tried his luck but was soon hauled back. However a move by Martin Prazdnovsky (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) and Tommy Evans (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) worked out better, the trio going clear shortly after it was announced that the riders had covered 91.5 kilometres in the first two hours of racing.
With 25 kilometres to go the trio had 55 seconds and this increased to their maximum advantage of one minute by Bunclody. Five kilometres later the lead had dropped slightly, the riders being 54 seconds ahead of lone pursuer Evan Oliphant (Britain Recycling.co.uk), who made an unsuccessful attempt to get across by himself.
Seven others then made their move, Chris Newton and Rob Sharman (Britain Recycling.co.uk), Joe McDonnell (Australia FRF Couriers Caravel), Jehudi Schoonacker (Belgium M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Brad Fairall (Canada Symmetrics), Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) and Dan Bowman (USA TIAA CREF) clipping away from the main bunch. They worked well together and closed up to the leaders with about eleven kilometres remaining.
Behind, warning signals were sounding for the other GC contenders. Newton has won the race twice, in 2003 and 2005, and it was playing with fire to allow him to get a gap on the first day. The Ireland Grant Thornton team came to the front, driving the pace up, and reducing the lead to 19 seconds with ten kilometres to go. With three kilometres remaining the break still had fifteen seconds, but the Éireann Dan Morrissey team of Ciarán Power joined forces with the Ireland riders and injected a little more pace.
A kilometre later, the break had just 150 metres lead. However the bunch stalled somewhat, enabling Sharman to bolt clear and make a dash for the line. Evans had something left in the tank, though, and he set off in pursuit, overhauling Sharman with about 600 metres remaining. He thundered up the main street and threw his arms skywards as he crossed the finish, sure he had done enough to win. However Newton was closing all the way to the line and got his front wheel fractionally ahead of Evans, who had eased back a moment too soon and thus lost out on the stage and the first yellow jersey of the race.
Two seconds later McDonnell led home Matysiak, Benjamin Hill (Germany Team Stevens), Hegreberg, Sharman, Joshua Marden, Cody Stevenson (both Australia FRF Couriers) and Schoonacker plus 94 others, the bunch catching the break in the sprint. However it was fractionally too late, as Newton and Evans had already flown and were scrapping it out for the win between them.
FBD Insurance Rás stage 1, Dublin – Enniscorthy:
1, Chris Newton (Britain Recycling.co.uk) 121 kilometres in 2 hours 48 mins 37 secs
2, Tommy Evans (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) same time
3, Joe McDonnell (Australia FRF Couriers) at 2 secs
4, Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek)
5, Benjamin Hill (Germany Stevens)
6, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest)
7, Robin Sharman (Britain Recycling.co.uk)
8, Joshua Marden (Australia FRF Couriers)
9, Cody Stevenson (Australia FRF Couriers)
10, Jehudi Schoonacker (Belgium M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) all same time
11, Dan Bowman (USA TIAA-CREF)
12, Florian Schroder (Germany)
13, Przemyslaw Pietrzak (Poland Legia Bazylisek)
14, Ciarán Power (Éireann Dan Morrissey)
15, Brad Fairall (Canada Symmetrics)
Cuchulainn Crystal County Rider:
1, Tommy Evans (Dublin Usher)
2, Mehall Fitzgerald (MyHome.ie/Cycleways)
3, Craig Sweetman (Meath M. Donnelly)
International team:
1, Britain Recycling.co.uk, 8 hours 25 mins 55 secs
2, Australia, at 2 secs
3, Germany Stevens
4, USA TIAA-CREF
5, Belgium M.Donnelly Sean Kelly all same time
County team:
1, Dublin Usher 8 hours 25 mins 55 secs
2, Meath MyHome.ie/Cycleways, at 2 secs
3, Kerry Earl of Desmond
4, Dublin Dundrum Town Centre
5, Meath M. Donnelly, all same time
Primes:
The Embankment, category 2 KOM/Hotspot Sprint:
1, Ciarán Power (Éireann Dan Morrissey) 10 pts/3 secs
2, Lukasz Modzelewski (Poland Legia Bazylisek) 8 pts/2 secs
3, Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) 6 pts/1 sec
4, Jaroslaw Welniak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) 4 pts
Kilcullen Hotspot Sprint:
1, Mike Friedman (USA TIAA CREF), 3 secs
2, Ciarán Power (Éireann Dan Morrissey), 2 secs
3, Lukasz Modzelewski (Poland Legia Bazylisek), 1 sec
Knocknacree, category 3 KOM/Hot Spot Sprint:
1, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) 5 pts/3 secs
2, Ciarán Power (Éireann Dan Morrissey) 4 pts/2 secs
3, Paídi O’Brien (Ireland Grant Thornton) 3 pts/1 sec
4, Johannes Sickmuller (Germany Team Stevens) 2 pts
General classification after stage 1:
1, Chris Newton, 2 hours 48 mins 27 secs
2, Tommy Evans, at 4 secs
3, Ciarán Power, at 5 secs
4, Joe McDonnell, at 9 secs
5, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) at 9 secs
6, Mike Friedman (USA TIAA-CREF)
7, Lukasz Modzelewski (Norway Sparebanken Vest) both same time
8, Bartlomiej Matysiak (Poland Legia Bazylisek) at 11 secs
9, Paídi O’Brien (Ireland Grant Thornton) same time
10, Benjamin Hill (Germany) at 12 secs
11, Robin Sharman (Britain)
12, Joshua Marden (Australia FRF Couriers)
13, Cody Stevenson (Australia FRF Couriers)
14, Jehudi Schoonacker (Belgium M.Donnelly Sean Kelly)
15, Dan Bowman (USA TIAA-CREF)
Points:
1, Chris Newton, 15
2, Evans, 14
3, McDonnell, 13
4, Matysiak, 12
5, Hill
6, Hegreberg, 10
Mountains:
1, Ciarán Power, 14
2, Modzelewski, 8
3, Matysiak, 6
4, Hegreberg, 5
5, Welniak, 4
6, O’Brien, 3
Ben McKenna Trophy, Under 23 rider:
1, Lukasz Modzelewski (Norway Sparebanken Vest) 2 hours 48 mins 36 secs
2, Matysiak, at 2 secs
3, O’Brien, at 2 secs
4, Hill, at 3 secs
5, Florian Schroder (Germany Stevens) same time
Cycleways County Rider:
1, Tommy Evans (Dublin Usher) 2 hours 48 mins 31 secs
2, Mehall Fitzgerald (MyHome.ie/Cycleways) at 8 secs
3, Craig Sweetman (Meath M. Donnelly)
4, John McCarthy (Kerry Earl of Desmond)
5, Gary McNulty (Dublin Dundrum Town Centre) all same time
Cycling Ireland Category 2 rider:
1, John McCarthy (Kerry Earl of Desmond) 2 hours 48 mins 39 secs
2, Gary McNulty (Dublin Dundrum Town Centre)
3, Daire McCaughley (Dublin Wheelers All Systems)
4, Mark McLeavey (Dublin Eurocycles Eurobaby)
5, Myles Kirby (Dublin Dundrum Town Centre) all same time
International team:
1, Britain Recycling.co.uk, 8 hours 25 mins 55 secs
2, Australia, at 2 secs
3, Germany Stevens
4, USA TIAA-CREF
5, Belgium M.Donnelly Sean Kelly all same time
County team:
1, Dublin Usher, 8 hours 25 mins 55 secs
2, Meath MyHome.ie/Cycleways, at 2 secs
3, Kerry Earl of Desmond
4, Dublin Dundrum Town Centre
5, Meath M. Donnelly, all same time
