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Newton Wins Stage, Cassidy Takes Over InYellow
By
May 20, 2008, 22:39
It was another good day for the An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly team, which once again ended up with the race leader’s yellow jersey after a tough day in the FBD Insurance Rás.
Mark Cassidy took over from team-mate Stephen Gallagher at the top of the general classification, scooping yellow nine years after his father Philip won the second of his two Rás titles. He was part of the day’s big breakaway and finished fifteenth, ending the day three seconds ahead of closest rival Rob Partridge (Britain Stena Line).
Gallagher missed the move and came home in a group two minutes and 35 seconds back, dropping to fourteenth overall.
Double Rás champion Chris Newton and 2004 winner David McCann scrapped it out for the stage win, the duo breaking away from the leading group with eighteen kilometres to go and building a strong lead. Newton surged inside the final 500 metres and hit the line two seconds ahead of McCann, while Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) and Waterford’s Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) were next across the line, just over a minute back.
“My father took his second Rás win only nine years ago so I can remember that well,” said Cassidy after the stage. “I grew up with the race and got a great buzz out of going to it. When I did my first one, I got such a kicking and thought I would never get a jersey of any sort. But this is my fifth Rás and I have got stronger and stronger. Every year I thought I could get closer and closer and I have got it now, so it is nice to wear it.
“The goal for the team is to win the race, or at least win a stage. We still have a lot of cards to play, all our team are in contention. We hope to defend the lead but it is a really hard race to control.”
Chris Newton was delighted to take the stage win, particularly as he broke his collarbone two months ago and lost out on some important training and racing.
“There was a group away so I was obviously trying to protect what we had got from the day before. [Dean Downing’s second place overall]. I was riding through because it was easier to do that than sit on…the two from the Sean Kelly team were trying to drop us, were messing around.
“Then just as the second group was coming across, I saw David put his head down and start to motor a little bit. I knew straight away there must have been a bit of a gap so I helped him straight away. We just committed ourselves. That third category climb was quite hard, to be honest. We both gave it what we could. We kept getting time checks.
“I knew the finish as I won a stage here in 2005. We came from Corkscrew hill that time but the last bit was the same. I knew there was a rise to the finish…it was a bit further than I remembered, but once you have got a tailwind, it’s easier to hold a gap.”
David McCann was second but, like Newton, he jumps up the general classification and so is now with striking distance of yellow. He was therefore satisfied with the day.
“I knew he would get me in the sprint, there was not much I could do,” he admitted afterwards. “I think I actually did more work than him, just thought I would try to get as much time as possible on the others. I felt strong, I am just lacking a wee bit of zip, lacking a wee bit of racing. Hopefully I get stronger while everybody else gets more tired.
“I felt good at the end. It was strange that the group was always close behind us, but I think they never really had the nerve to go for it. They could have caught us.”
Partridge was fifth, one minute and six seconds behind Newton. There was initially some confusion as to whether he or Cassidy was in yellow, but after deliberations the judges ruled that the Irish rider had made it by three seconds.
Alex Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) and Andrew Bye (Britain Surrey Racing League) are third and fourth overall, with Newton and McCann’s strong performance today moving them up to sixth and seventh.
The stage was run off in strong winds and these, the heavy roads and the first category climb of Doonagore near the end ensured a tough day in the saddle for all. Three days into the race, there’s now only 24 riders within two minutes of Cassidy’s race lead; the list of potential winners is being thinned out quite rapidly.
The FBD Insurance Rás continues tomorrow with a lumpy 156 kilometre leg from Corofin to Tralee.
How it unfolded:
Once again benefiting from bright, dry conditions, 137 riders lined out for the start of the third stage of the FBD Insurance Rás. The 133 kilometre leg took the riders from Claremorris to Lisdoonvarna and with the first category Doonagore climb coming just 7.5 kilometres from the line, it was sure to shake up the general classification.
This would be preceeded by the category three ascent of Ballinalacken, coming fractionally under 20 kilometres from the finish.
There was plenty of aggressive riding from the drop of the flag and ten minutes after the start, Patrick Kos (Netherlands) went clear and was joined by Ireland national team riders Miceal Concannon and Robin Seymour. Jean Marc Maurin (France Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur) tried to get across but was unable to do so, going back to the bunch. Philip Finegan (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) also suffered the same fate.
The gap went up to one minute and seven seconds, but came back down to 35 seconds around Tuam due to the efforts of the Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly team of race leader Stephen Gallagher to split the field in the crosswinds. The break was hauled back several kilometres later.
Following an unsuccessful attempt by Barry Sutton (Cycleways@53degreesnorth), Roger Aiken (Ireland), Levi Heimans (Netherlands) and Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) to open up a decisive lead, Derek Burke (Pezula Racing) and Neill Delahaye (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) went clear approximately 65 kilometres into the stage. They were soon joined by Tim van der Zanden (Netherlands).
The significance and danger of the break increased significantly when the strong Belgian rider Benny de Schrooder (An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) and double Rás champion Ciarán Power (Pezula Racing) attacked, chased, and eventually joined the move heading into Kinvarra, 67.5 kilometres after the start. The peloton was 40 seconds back at this point.
Although Burke was dropped soon afterwards, the break’s chances were boosted significantly when Roger Aiken (Ireland), double Rás winner Chris Newton (Britain Team Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycilng.co.uk) and Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) attacked the bunch and narrowed the gap. They were joined by 2004 victor David McCann (Ireland) and Paídi O’Brien (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), with the the two groups merging approximately 88 kilometres into the stage.
At this point the nine-man group was one minute and ten seconds ahead of the Plowman Craven-led main field. The peloton succeeded in reducing the gap to 41 seconds along the stunning coastline towards Fanore, but the break then started to pull clear again. With 25 kilometres remaining it was 45 seconds ahead of four chasers – Amir Zargari (Iran Islamic Azad University), Mark Cassidy (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Kieran Page (Pezula) and Andrew Bye (Britain Surrey Racing League) – and a minute up on the main field.
Wojciech Dybel, Mateusz Komar (both Poland), Rob Partridge (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk), Ole Quast (Germany Stevens Von Hacht) and Chris McNamara (Britain Surrey Racing League) also gave chase and merged with the Cassidy group, making it nine chasing nine. This latter group then swelled to twelve when S. Mostafa Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University), Dale Appleby (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) and Alex Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) got across.
With approximately 18 kilometres to go, McCann and Newton attacked hard and were then joined briefly by De Schrooder. The Belgian slipped back but the other two persisted, pulling further and further away of their former breakaway companions.
Mark Cassidy had started the day five seconds behind Stephen Gallagher in fourth overall, but with McCann and Newton adding to their advantage up the road, it was possible that one or other of them could take yellow.
They went over the top of the third category climb of Ballinalacken in that order, the summit coming approximately 15 kilometres from the line, with Hegreberg and Higham netting third and fourth. At the top of Doonagore – which came seven kilometres later - Newton and McCann had built their lead to one minute and five seconds over the lone chaser Razaei Khormizi, with the fragmenting chase group a little further behind.
Newton jumped hard inside the final 500 metres, opening up a two second lead on McCann by the line and adding to his list of stage successes in the race. The former Irish national champion was followed home one minute and four seconds later by Komar, with Power and Partridge one and two seconds further back, respectively.
The rest of the chasing group was an additional second in arrears. The race referees spent quite some time examining the finishing images to determine if there were sufficient gaps in this group to give separate times – something that could have potentially seen Partridge take the race lead over Cassidy – but finally it was confirmed that the young Irish rider was indeed in yellow.
As regards the other classifications, Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) remained in the points jersey, Newton took over in the mountains competition and Appleby ended the day as leading under 23 rider. Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) was first county team rider and Brendan Lacey (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) topped the list of second category competitors.
Newton and Partridge’s good showing saw the Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk squad move into the lead in the international team standings, and Dublin IRC Usher Insulations remained at the top of the county team lists.
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FBD Insurance Rás (2.2).
Stage 3, Claremorris – Lisdoonvarna:
1, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 133 kilometres in 3 hours 25 mins 8 secs
2, David McCann (Ireland national team) at 2 secs
3, Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) at 1 min 4 secs
4, Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) at 1 min 5 secs
5, Rob Partridge (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 1 min 6 secs
6, Andrew Bye (Britain Surrey Racing League) at 1 min 7 secs
7, Amir Zargari (Iran Islamic Azad University)
8, S. M. Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University)
9, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest)
10, Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
11, Paídi O’Brien (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
12, Dale Appleby (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk)
13, Chris McNamara (Britain Surrey Racing League)
14, Kieran Page (Ireland Pezula Racing)
15, Mark Cassidy (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) all same time
Primes:
King of the Mountains category 3, Ballinalacken (118.9km)
1, David McCann (Ireland national team) 5 points
2, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 4
3, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest) 3
4, Alex Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) 2
King of the Mountains category 1, Doonagore (125.6km)
1, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 15 pts
2, David McCann (Ireland national team) 12
3, S. M. Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) 10
4, Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 8
5, Andrew Bye (Britain Surrey Racing League) 6
6, Chris McNamara (Britain Surrey Racing League) 5
7, Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) 3
County rider:
1, Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) 3 hours 27 mins 43 secs
2, Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath MyHome.ie BDBC)
3, Denis Dunworth (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) both same time
International team:
1, Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk, 10 hours 17 mins 37 secs
2, Ireland national team, at 50 secs
3, Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly, at 1 min 12 secs
4, Ireland Pezula Racing, at 2 mins 34 secs
5, Iran Islamic Azad University, at 2 mins 36 secs
County team:
1, Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies, 10 hours 23 mins 37 secs
2, Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC, at 42 secs
3, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, at 1 min 22 secs
4, Dublin McNally Swords, at 1 min 35 secs
5, Dublin IRC Usher Insulations, at 2 mins 12 secs
General classification:
1, Mark Cassidy (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 10 hours 28 mins 39 secs
2, Rob Partridge (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 3 secs
3, Alex Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) at 5 secs
4, Andrew Bye (Britain Surrey Racing League) at 17 secs
5, Kieran Page (Ireland Pezula Racing) same time
6, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 18 secs
7, David McCann (Ireland national team) at 20 secs
8, Roger Aiken (Ireland national team) at 24 secs
9, Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 1 min 21 secs
10, Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 1 min 22 secs
11, Morten Hegreberg (Norway Sparebanken Vest)
12, Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) both same time
13, Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) at 1 min 23 secs
14, Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) same time
15, Paídi O’Brien (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 1 min 25 secs
Points:
1, Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 26 pts
2, Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) 25
3, Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 19
4, Renaud Pioline (France Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur) 18
5, Rob Partridge (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 16
Mountains:
1, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line) 19
2, David McCann (Ireland) 17
3, S. M. Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) 14
4, Jaroslaw Dabrowski (Poland) 8
5, Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 8
Under 23:
1, Dale Appleby (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 10 hours 30 mins 4 secs
2, Martin Grashev (Bulgaria Nessebar) at 7 secs
3, Ole Quast (Germany Stevens von Hacht) at 9 secs
Cycling Ireland category 2:
1, Brendan Lacey (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) 10 hours 40 mins 18 secs
2, Mark Power (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) at 1 min 53 secs
3, Michael Lucey (Cork Kanturk Town) at 2 mins 21 secs
County rider:
1, Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) 10 hours 31 mins 32 secs
2, Denis Dunworth (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies)
3, Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) both same time
International team:
1, Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk, 31 hours 26 mins 17 secs
2, Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly, at 1 min 2 secs
3, Ireland national team, at 2 mins 31 secs
4, Britain Plowman Craven, at 4 mins 3 secs
5, Ireland Pezula Racing, at 4 mins 15 secs
County team:
1, Dublin IRC Usher Insulations, 31 hours 45 mins 34 secs
2, Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies, at 5 mins 46 secs
3, Dublin Eurocycles, at 8 mins 11 secs
4, Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC, at 11 mins 30 secs
5, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, at 12 mins 10 secs
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