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Power Solos To Victory, Richardson Grabs Yellow From McCann
May 23, 2008, 16:02
Bouncing back from the disappointment of falling ill earlier this week, Irish professional Ciarán Power soloed to a great stage win at the end of stage six of the FBD Insurance Rás in Clonmel. The Ireland Pezula Racing rider was one of ten who went clear almost immediately after the drop of the flag and, 180 kilometres later, he proved the strongest of the five riders who were still in contention for the stage victory.
Christer Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest) was next past the line in Clonmel, finishing three seconds back, with Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) six seconds down and Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven) plus Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan) a further second behind.
Stage five winner Richardson was the most dangerous in the break, starting the day 54 seconds behind the race leader David McCann (Ireland national team). With McCann and second-placed rider overall Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) finishing back in the main bunch two minutes and 47 seconds down, the Britain Plowman Craven rider seized the yellow jersey.
Former race leader Gallagher ended the day just ten seconds back and he will be the chief Irish hope for success when the race heads into the Wicklow mountains tomorrow. However Power is also poised to strike, lying one minute and one second off the race lead. McCann and Newton are both one minute and 46 seconds down overall, with the former’s team-mate Roger Aiken a further six seconds back.
“I am absolutely thrilled,” said Power afterwards, “I could not be any happier. Coming into the race I should have had good legs but I have been sick for the past five days. Thankfully now I have got an inhaler and it helps with my breathing. There are two hard days left and I feel a lot better. If I recover from today you’ll never know what will happen.
“The Race Doctor on the race, Conor McGrane, filled out all the paperwork and I have a TUE [therapeutic exemption form] now for the inhaler for the next couple of weeks. I have been dying all week with bronchitis. It has affected my top end kind of form. It was taken me half an hour before I could breathe properly after each stage. Today I knew by the feeling I had just after the start I was going to be able to ride again like a normal rider.”
He provided a valuable input into the horsepower of the escape, which built a maximum lead of over six minutes. “I got across to the break and I did about 2k on the front as soon as I got to it. We absolutely hammered it because we knew if we held them at a minute, eventually they would have to crack. And that’s what happened.”
While Power jumped up the overall standings, Richardson was the biggest to gain in that respect as he ended the day in the yellow jersey. He was understandably delighted with that. “This is kind of my first yellow jersey – I won the Bikeline Two-Day, which is a Premier Calendar race, but it was an orange jersey there. So it was not as nice as yellow.
“Yesterday was my first stage win. I have a bit of a track record for getting third places back home in the Premier – I had three – so it was nice to have a bit of luck this week.”
He said that he suffered in the break due to his efforts twenty-four hours earlier. “Yesterday was really hard and my legs were not great today. I got across to the early move. I saw that there were three Pezula guys there and they are super-strong lads. I knew that even if I was there the other teams – Rapha and the Irish lads – would have a tough time chasing us.”
Gallagher ended the day as Richardson’s closest challenger, and said that he too suffered in building time. “It was a difficult day today. We knew we had to do something to start making time back up again. Yesterday was a day when our team had to regroup after some misfortune and see what was going on. When Mark (Cassidy) crashed it was a bit of a shock to us, so I think we were glad to be just able to control it yesterday.
“I think a lot of teams were expecting us to attack and maybe get some time back but we had different plans. We decided today and tomorrow would be our big days. It was always going to be active from the start and thankfully the group that I got into was very, very strong. There were guys Ciaran Power – Pezula had three – Paul Healion, Eugene Moriarty and Simon Richardson who are all good rouleurs [strong men]. So it was the perfect group to be in.”
Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC), Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) and Cameron Jennings (Ireland Pezula Racing) were the others who stayed with the break until near the end, and they took places six through to eight. Moriarty’s placing saw him finish as best Irish county team rider on the stage, adding to his previous tally in that classification.
The race tomorrow moves one stage closer to completion, and the 177 kilometre penultimate leg from Clonmel to Roundwood sees the riders tackle three ascents on the tough course. Gallagher is a good climber and is, like the other contenders, sure to attack. But Richardson also believes in his chances.
“I can climb pretty well,” he stated. “Obviously it is the seventh stage and I have had to spend some beans already this week. If it was a one-day race I know I would be fine, but we will have to wait and see. I’ll do my best.”
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How it unfolded:
The longest stage of the FBD Insurance Rás started in Skibbereen in bright conditions and very soon after the drop of the flag, a group of ten riders went clear. These were Miceal Concannon (Ireland national team), Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Ciarán Power, Cameron Jennings and Derek Burke (Ireland Pezula Racing), Christer Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan), Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords), Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) and Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC).
Concannon dropped back to the bunch in order to support the race leader David McCann, but his place at the front was taken by stage five winner Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven), who bridged across alone.
The Ireland team of McCann and the Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk squad of second-placed rider Chris Newton started riding at the front of the bunch but, whether it was due to a lack of full commitment or the horsepower of those up front, the break kept pulling clear.
The high overall placings of Richardson, Gallagher and McCann meant that there was a clear danger to McCann’s lead, and the yellow jersey himself started riding as well. Richardson had started the day sixth overall, 54 seconds back, while Gallagher (9th) was one minute five seconds down and Power (23rd) was a further 57 seconds in arrears.
Fifty kilometres into the stage, the break was one minute and 24 seconds clear. Thirty-five kilometres later, this had gone up to three minutes. Healion had experienced mechanical trouble, chased back to the break, but was then dropped several kilometres later. Burke also found himself heading back to the bunch after he punctured and was unable to rejoin.
The eight-man break pressed onwards in sometimes-wet conditions, building its lead. With 35 kilometres left, it peaked at six minutes and two seconds. An attack and several-kilometre stint off the front by lone rider Chris McNamara (Britain Surrey Racing league) showed that the peloton was not riding as well as it could have been, and this was echoed when McCann himself attacked, showing his frustration with others who would not ride. However he was hauled back by the Plowman Craven team of Richardson, who looked set to take over the yellow jersey.
Wojciech Dybel (Poland) and Renaud Pioline (France Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur) attacked from the peloton and, after their recapture, Dybel went once again with Pioline’s team-mate Jean Marc Maurin. This was again brought back, after which a stubborn Dybel took off with his Poland team-mate Mateusz Komar. A group of seven riders set off in pursuit, but all nine were all reeled in.
With twenty kilometres to go it became clear that the break was not going to be seen again until after the finish. The timecheck there was two minutes and forty seconds; it was still considerable at the ten kilometres to go marker.
Approximately five clicks later Richardson, Gallagher, Power, Rake and Roche pushed on, leaving Moriarty, Lacey and Jennings behind. Power then attacked inside the final three kilometres, opening up a small lead over solo chaser Rake and holding him off to the line. The Norwegian finished three seconds back, with Gallagher six and Richardson plus Roche seven seconds down.
Moriarty, Lacey and Jennings were next across the line, the first two of these scrapping it out for the county prize, and then Dybel and Poland team-mate Blazej Janiaczyk finishes two minutes 26 seconds and two minutes 37 seconds in arrears. They had broken free of the main bunch, which was itself led home two minutes and 47 seconds after Power’s victory by Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk).
McCann and Newton finished in this group and while they remained deadlocked on time, they dropped to fourth and fifth overall, one minute and 46 seconds back. Downing and Kit Gilham (Britain Kinesis) continued to lead the points and mountains classifications, while Dale Appleby (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk), Denis Dunworth (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) and Brendan Lacey (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) ended the day at the top of the Under 23, the county rider and the CI category two competitions. Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly and Dublin IRC Usher Insulations were at the helm of the international and county teams’ rakings.
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FBD Insurance Rás (2.2), May 18 – 25:
Stage six, Skibereen to Clonmel:
1, Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) 180 kilometres in 4 hours 17 mins 56 secs
2, Christer Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest) at 3 secs
3, Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 6 secs
4, Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven) at 7 secs
5, Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan) same time
6, Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) at 29 secs
7, Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) at 30 secs
8, Cameron Jennings (Ireland Pezula Racing) at 37 secs
9, Wojciech Dybel (Poland national team) at 2 mins 26 secs
10, Blazej Janiaczyk (Poland national team) at 2 mins 37 secs
11, Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 2 mins 47 secs
12, Levi Heimans (Netherlands national team)
13, David McCann (Ireland national team)
14, Renaud Pioline (France Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur)
15, Rene Birkenfeld (Germany Stevens Von Hacht)
County rider:
1, Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) 4 hours 18 mins 25 secs
2, Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) at 1 sec
3, Aidan Crowley (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) at 2 mins 18 secs
Cotter Hoose CI category 2 rider:
1, Diarmuid Carew (Kildare Newbridge) 4 hours 20 mins 43 secs
2, Mark O’Reilly (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
3, Mark Power (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) both same time
International team:
1, Ireland Pezula Racing, 12 hours 57 mins 12 secs
2, Norway Sparebanken Vest, at 2 mins 13 secs
3, Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly, at 2 mins 16 secs
4, Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan, at 2 mins 17 secs
5, Britain Plowman Craven, same time
County team:
1, Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC, 12 hours 59 mins 51 secs
2, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, at 2 mins 18 secs
3, Dublin Dundrum Town Centre
4, Dublin McNally Swords
5, Meath Cycleways@53degreesnorth, all same time
General classification after six stages:
1, Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven) 22 hours 18 mins 14 secs
2, Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 10 secs
3, Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) at 1 min 1 sec
4, David McCann (Ireland national team) at 1 min 46 secs
5, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) same time
6, Roger Aiken (Ireland national team) at 1 min 52 secs
7, Rob Partridge (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 1 min 53 secs
8, Alex Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) at 1 min 55 secs
9, Andrew Bye (Britain Surrey Racing League) at 2 mins 42 secs
10, Dean Downing (Britain Stene Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 2 mins 50 secs
110, S. M. Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) at 2 mins 53 secs
12, Kieran Page (Ireland Pezula Racing) at 2 mins 57 secs
13, Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 3 mins 11 secs
14, Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) at 3 mins 12 secs
15, Paídi O’Brien (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 3 mins 15 secs
Points:
1, Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 50 points
2, Mateusz Komar (Poland national team) 41
3, Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven) 39
4, Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) 39
5, Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 33
Mountains:
1, Kit Gilham (Britain Kinesis) 49
2, Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven) 41
3, Patrick Kos (Netherlands) 38
4, David O’Loughlin (Ireland Pezula Racing) 32
5, S. Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) 29
Under 23:
1, Dale Appleby (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 22 hours 21 mins 29 secs
2, Martin Grashev (Bulgaria Nessebar) at 7 secs
3, Ole Quast (Germany Stevens von Hacht) at 9 secs
4, Maurice Schreurs (Netherlands) at 1 min 20 secs
5, Denis Dunworth (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) at 1 min 28 secs
County rider:
1, Denis Dunworth (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) 22 hours 22 mins 57 secs
2, Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) same time
3, Joe Fenlon (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) at 28 secs
4, Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) at 32 secs
5, Neill Delahaye (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) at 2 mins 55 secs
CI Category 2:
1, Brendan Lacey (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) 22 hours 37 mins 52 secs
2, Graham Hurley (Dublin Dundrum Town Centre) at 55 secs
3, Mark Power (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) at 1 min 53 secs
4, Stephen Halpin (Dublin McNally Swords) at 3 mins 6 secs
5, Kevin Donagher (Dublin McNally Swords) at 3 mins 45 secs
International team:
1, Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly, 66 hours 58 mins 31 secs
2, Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk, at 1 min 17 secs
3, Britain Plowman Craven, at 1 min 21 secs
3, Ireland Pezula Racing, at 3 mins 16 secs
5, Ireland national team, at 3 mins 46 secs
County team:
1, Dublin IRC Usher Insulations, 67 hours 20 mins 56 secs
2, Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC, at 8 mins 5 secs
3, Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies, at 18 mins 39 secs
4, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, at 29 mins 34 secs
5, Dublin McNally Swords, at 35 mins 43 secs
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