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2005 Elliott led out the gallop and appeared to have it won, only for Newton to nip around him inside the final 50 metres. The former Tour of Spain points winner was disappointed with the result, saying that problems changing gears curtailed his speed. He says that he came to the race aiming for stage wins rather than the overall classification, and while he is just eight seconds behind the new leader Newton, the 43 year old Sheffield rider says that his average climbing form means he will remain focussed on stage wins for the rest of the race. Overnight race leader Morten Hegreberg missed out on a crucial nine-man break today, a move that formed in response to an attack by Donald Reeb (US – Guinness) after the day’s second climb. Hegreberg finally managed to get out of the bunch and launch a last-gasp chase, but finished in a group 2 minutes and 26 seconds down and so slips to third. Yesterday’s stage winner Roger Aiken also lost out, finishing further back in the main field and dropping out of the top ten overall. There was however some good news for the Irish on the race. Eugene Moriarty (Meath Cycleways.com) won the day’s two primes to take a tight grip on the King of the Mountains competition, while Conor Murphy (Ireland – Grant Thornton) and Moriarty’s team-mate Phil Cassidy were very much in the hunt for the stage win. While the two eventually lost out to breakaway companions Newton and Elliott, slipping back inside the final eight kilometres, they will doubtlessly try again before the week is out. For now, third and fourth on the stage will act to increase their motivation for the remainder of the race. Also riding well was Tipperary – Dan Morrissey Corkman Tim Barry, eighth across the line. Barry made a brave bid to get across to the nine-man break before Newton, Elliott, Cassidy and Murphy blew things asunder with 27 kilometres to go, but was unable to match the firepower of those up front. He finished in a group sprinting for fifth, crossing the line behind John Tanner (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital), Robin Sharman (GB – Recycling.co.uk) and Mark Lovatt (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital), but will take considerable consolation from his performance today. Barry is sixth overall, just behind Kevin Dawson (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital) and Sharman. How it happened: Dark skies and rain was awaiting the riders at the start of today’s 160 kilometre second stage from Emyvale to Tubbercurry, dampening the mood somewhat. However the rain eased off shortly after the start, clearing around the time the field hit the third category ascent of Corraghduff after 5 kilometres. Former Tour of Britain KOM leader Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) scampered away before the start of the climb, hunting for points but he was caught and passed by Eugene Moriarty. The Meath Cycleways rider had placed second on yesterday’s sole KOH prime of Tully Esker, but as the first rider across the line started today’s stage wearing yellow (Morten Hegreberg of the Norway – Sparebanken Vest team), the Kerryman was in the KOM jersey. He clearly wanted to make it his own, taking the points at the top ahead of Stephen Gallagher (Ireland – Grant Thornton), Rostislav Krotky (Czech Republic – Elmarco KK Cube) and Stian Remme (Norway – Sparebanken Vest). There was a regrouping after the climb, before Gallagher and Krotky tried again. They joined up with Stuart MacGregor (Scotland West) and Tommy Evans (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital) but were unable to break the elastic. An hour into the stage three others had fractionally more success, with Mark Pozniak (Canada – Jet Fuel Coffee), Are Andresen (Norway – Sparebanken Vest) and 43 year old double Rás winner Philip Cassidy (Meath – Cycleways.com) opening up a 15 second gap. But these too were reeled in, as were six counterattackers - Simon Kelly (Cork Nucleus), Paul Healion (Dublin Usher Insulations), Eddie O’Donoghue (Dublin – Team Murphy and Gunn), Morten Christiansen (Norway – Sparebanken Vest), Gary Hand (Scotland) and Stuart Gillespie of the TIAA CREF team. Next to try was Urquhart, who cleared off once again trying to nab some mountain points. He struck out after 61 kilometres, some 12 kilometres from the start of the second category Bellavalley Gap. The British Army soldier built a maximum lead of 45 seconds but was caught before the top of the seven-kilometre climb. Moriarty needed to score well at the prime to secure his grip on the KOM jersey, and that he did. He led over the top, taking maximum points ahead of Malte Urban (Germany – Stevens Von Hacht), Rostilav Krotky (Czech Republic), Alex Coutts (Scotland) and Stephen Gallagher (Ireland – Grant Thornton). On the descent, Donald Reeb (US – Guinness) raced clear and built a minute’s lead. He plugged away despite swirling winds and rolling terrain, assisted by the twisting roads which helped hide him from the pursuing bunch. After approximately 40 minutes of solo riding he was chased by six others - Zach Bell (Canada – Jet Fuel Coffee), Gabriel Rasch (Norway – Sparebanken Vest), Malcolm Elliott (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital), Michael Steed (Kildare – Murphy Surveyors), Eoin Whelan (Louth – Safe Cycling) and Philip Cassidy (Meath – Cycleways.com). Steed was soon dropped, while Gary Dodd (Surrey Racing League) jumping across the gap to take his place before the junction was made. This impressive front group was then reinforced by the addition of two more strong riders - Conor Murphy (Ireland - Grant Thornton) and Chris Newton (GB – Recycling.co.uk). Sensing danger, Kristian House (Britain – Fujibikes), Newton’s team-mate Paul Manning and Craig Sweetman (Meath – M. Donnelly) set off in pursuit but they were unable to bridge the gap. Tim Barry (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) then did what he could to get across, joining forces with Evan Oliphant (Scotland). With 30 kilometres remaining the duo were 1 minute 16 seconds back and the peloton 1 minute and 51 seconds down. However, the gap opened up again after that and while a stubborn Barry pressed on alone, he was unable to bridge to what was by now a fragmenting front group. Along with Elliott and Newton, Rasch was also in yesterday’s break and so was in the running for yellow. However the Norwegian had the misfortune to puncture just before Newton, Elliott, Murphy and Cassidy turned the screw at 27 kilometres to go and blew the race apart. He was unable to regain the break, while Bell, Reeb, Whelan and Dodd also went backwards. The five riders were picked up by a chase group which detached itself from the sluggish peloton. This group comprised John Dempsey (Ireland – Grant Thornton), yellow jersey Morten Hegreberg (Norway – Sparebanken Vest), Alex Coutts (Scotland), Yanto Barker (Wales – Stena Line), Rob Sharman (GB – Recycling.co.uk), John Tanner, Kevin Dawson, Mark Lovatt (Yorkshire – Trinity Capital), Denis Lynch (Cork – Kanturk) and Sean Lacey (Meath – M. Donnelly). Barry was also part of the chase, having been mopped up along the way, while Whelan cracked and went back to the bunch. Despite the charge behind, there was no way that the four up front would be overhauled before the line. With approximately eight kilometres remaining Newton and Elliott forged ahead, shedding the two Irish riders, and these raced on into the finish in Tubbercurry together. Both riders have good sprinting backgrounds, Elliott having won stages in top pro races such as the Tour of Spain a decade ago, while Newton is an accomplished track rider with world championship and Olympic medals to his name. As those palmares suggested, the finish was indeed tight, but Newton managed to nip around his rival inside the final 50 metres to take the stage. Equally importantly, the fact that he started the day eight seconds up on Elliott meant that the yellow jersey was his. In the 2003 Rás he seized control on stage five and went on to win the race. Newton is doing things a bit earlier this time round but, with Elliott the only rider within two minutes of his lead, he is determined to defend from the front. ‘It’s a bit earlier than I planned but when I found myself out front, I decided to go for it,’ he said. ‘If the overall doesn’t work out then at least I have the insurance of having landed a stage win. It takes the pressure off as well.’ Elliott rued the missed opportunity, saying that mechanical problems prevented him from properly finishing off his sprint. ‘I felt pretty good. I started the sprint quite early and wanted to shift up a gear inside the final 50 metres. I changed the gear but all the rain today meant that the mechanism didn’t work quite right. I had to ease back on the pedals to allow the chain to drop down a sprocket, but having lost that momentum I couldn’t get it going again before the line.’ ‘I don’t think I am climbing well enough to be in the running for the overall classification. I think I will lose time on the mountains. Stage wins are what I came for but unfortunately it didn’t work out today. I will try again later in the week…there will hopefully be a few more chances.’ Third on the stage went to Ireland – Stena Line rider Conor Murphy. He was relatively satisfied with his placing. ‘The hill near the end was what caused my legs to seize up,’ he said. ‘I am happy to hang on for third on the stage, I don’t think I would have done anything in the sprint against those two guys if I had stayed with them.’ 1983 and 1999 overall winner Philip Cassidy crossed the line just behind Murphy, taking fourth. ‘It was kind of a plan to try today. The goal was to get into a group in the first half of the week and see what we could take out of it. I was quite pleased today, even though they got rid of me on the last climb with about ten kilometres to go. If I am lucky enough to get clear in two or three days time I should be better, as I was quite tired starting the race. I had a heavy week last week, work-wise, so my legs weren’t in the best of shape. But they felt better today.’ ‘It is going to be hard for the teams to control the race if the weather is bad. If it is not nice and sunny, it is much harder to keep a grip on the race. We’ll see how things work out, but if the legs are good I’ll certainly try again.’ (more quotes later) |
