Cycling/ Rás: In terms of career results, two riders in particular stand out from the field in this year's FBD Insurance Rás.
The 2003 champion, Chris Newton, has racked up two World Championship golds plus Olympic silver and bronze medals on the track, while Malcolm Elliott's previous incarnation as a top European professional saw him capture stage wins plus the overall points title in the Tour of Spain.
Pretty impressive stuff. Yesterday that class rose to the top, the two English competitors finishing well clear of the rest of the field and sprinting it out for the stage win between them. Elliott looked to have the victory all sewn up, only for his rival to nip around him with 50 metres remaining and scoop both the stage honours and the overall race lead.
That Elliott went so close to taking the win is further testimony to his remarkable longevity as an endurance athlete. He is now 43 years of age, but is clearly in great shape. And while he says that his climbing is probably not strong enough to challenge for overall honours, he will continue trying to add to the two stage victories he took last year.
Elliott wasn't the only veteran in form on the undulating leg to Tubbercurry. Double Rás champion Philip Cassidy was in the thick of things once more, forging ahead with Newton, Elliott and Conor Murphy inside the final 30 kilometres and losing sight of the stage win only inside the last eight. Murphy and Cassidy - who like Elliott is 43 - hung on to take third and fourth, while the overall race leader Morten Hegreberg finished two minutes and 26 seconds down and drops to third overall.
Stage one winner Roger Aiken also lost considerable time, crossing the line as part of the main bunch some five minutes and 51 seconds after Newton and Elliott tussled it out for the day's honours. Tim Barry is now the best placed Irishman in sixth.
"It's quite early to take the jersey, but I wasn't going to turn down the chance to take the stage," said Newton. "It is good insurance to pick up a win early on, it takes the pressure off. I've got a pretty strong team so we'll try to defend the lead now."
The race continues today with a 156-kilometre leg to Lisdoonvarna. With Newton and Elliott now over two minutes clear of the rest of the field, it is likely that yellow will rest with one or the other. For the immediate future, at least.
Rás details Stage Two
STAGE TWO (Emyvale to Tubbercurry): 1, C Newton (GB-Recycling.co.uk) 160 kilometres in 4 hours 11 mins 11 secs; 2, M Elliott (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital) same time; 3, C Murphy (Ireland-Grant Thornton) at 1 min 12 secs; 4, P Cassidy (Meath Cycleways.com) at 1 min 49 secs; 5, J Tanner (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital) at 2 mins 21 secs; 6, R Sharman (GB-Recycling.co.uk); 7, M Lovatt (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital); 8, T Barry (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) all same time; 9, G Dodd (Surrey Racing League) at 2 mins 26 secs; 10, Y Barker (Wales-Stena Line); 11, S. Lacey (Meath M Donnelly); 12, K Dawson (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital); 13, M. Hegreberg (Norway-Sparebanken Vest); 14, J Dempsey (Ireland-Grant Thornton); 15, D. Lynch (Cork-Kanturk) all same time.
KING OF THE MOUNTAINS: Corraghduff, category 3: 1, E Moriarty (Meath Cycleways.com) 5 pts; 2, S Gallagher (Ireland-Grant Thornton) 4 pts; 3, R Krotky (Czech Republic-Elmarco KK Cube) 3 pts; 4, S Remme (Norway- Sparebanken Vest) 2 pts. Bellavalley Gap, category 2: 1, E Moriarty, 10 pts; 2, M Urban (Germany-Stevens Von Hacht), 8 pts; 3, R Krotky (Czech Republic), 6 pts; 4, A Coutts (Scotland) 4 pts; 5, S Gallagher (Ireland-Grant Thornton) 3 pts.
COUNTY RIDER (Cuchulainn Crystal award): Cassidy.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (George Plant trophy): 1, C Newton, 7 hours 4 mins 29 secs; 2, Elliott, at 8 secs; 3, Moren Hegreberg (Norway-Sparebanken Vest) at 2 mins 16 secs; 4, K Dawson (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital) at 2 mins 23 secs; 5, Sharman, at 2 mins 32 secs; 6, Barry, same time; 7, Barker, at 2 mins 37 secs; 8, G Rasch (Norway-Sparebanken Vest) both same time; 9, Murphy, at 4 mins 20 secs; 10, S. Gillespie (US-TIAA CREF) at 4 mins 30 secs; 11, Cassidy, at 4 mins 57 secs; 12, Lovatt, at 5 mins 29 secs; 13, Tanner, same time; 14, Lacey, at 5 mins 34 secs; 15, G Dodd (Surrey Racing League) same time.
POINTS: 1, Chris Newton, 27 pts; 2, Elliott, 24; 3, Hegreberg, 17; 4, Dawson, 17; 5, Sharman, 16.
MOUNTAINS: 1, E Moriarty (Meath Cycleways.com) 19; 2, R Krotky (Czech Republic-Elmarco KK Cube) 9; 3, M Urban (Germany-Stevens von Hacht) 8; 4, S Gallagher (Ireland-Grant Thornton) 7; 5, Hegreberg, 5.
SPRINTS: 1, Morten Hegreberg (Norway-Sparebanken Vest) 5; 2, Elliott, 3; 3, J. Winn (Wales-Stena Line) 3.
UNDER-23 OVERALL (Ben McKenna trophy): 1, S Gillespie (US-TIAA CREF) 7 hours 8 mins 59 secs; 2, Coutts, at 3 mins; 3, M Pozniak (Canada-Jet Fuel Coffee) at 4 mins 29 secs.
INTERNATIONAL TEAM: 1, Yorkshire-Trinity Capital, 21 hours 21 mins 29 secs; 2, Norway-Sparebanken Vest, at 3 mins 4 secs; 3, GB-Recycling.co.uk, at 3 mins 30 secs.
COUNTY TEAM OVERALL: 1, Meath Cycleways.com, 21 hours 33 mins 28 secs; 2, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, at 29 secs; 3, Meath M. Donnelly, at 3 mins 31 secs.
