CYCLING:SHOWING THAT nothing is ever certain in the FBD Rás, Simon Richardson yesterday overhauled race leader Ian Wilkinson on the tough fourth stage, seizing the yellow jersey in Killorglin.
On Tuesday Wilkinson had shown his domination when he and Richardson opened up a huge lead on the rest of the field, then dropped his rival on the climb to the finish. At that point, many felt that the race was likely to go his way.
Think again. Whilst he has not been ruled out of the equation, the three minutes and 53 seconds Wilkson conceded yesterday to stage winner Nicolas Walker (Australia Cinelli Down Under), Richardson and 32 other riders dropped him down to sixth overall; the race is much more open once more.
The big action came on the day’s first category climb of the Conor Pass, but in truth the wearing down process had started a lot earlier. Almost immediately after the start eight riders clipped away, namely stage one winner Niko Eeckhout and team-mate Paidi O’Brien (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Stephen Halpin (Ireland Development U23), Tom Southam (Britain Rapha Condor), Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut), Kit Gilham (Britain CShire Sigmasport), Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations) and Michael Fitzgerald (Dublin Eurocycles). They were soon joined by Morten Kruse Brink (Denmark Designa Kokken) and Eeckhout’s team-mate David O’Loughlin.
This group build a good lead and was in turn chased by a number of other riders, including several Irish competitors. And while O’Loughlin was not an immediate threat to Wilkinson – he was best-placed of the break, but had started the day seven minutes and 12 seconds back – the need to limit the gains of those two groups meant that the race leader’s Britain Halfords Bike Hut team were exhausted by the time they hit the Conor Pass.
There, the race exploded. All the major contenders put the hammer down, and Wilkinson was overwhelmed. He crested the summit some way back, and was simply unable to get back on terms before the finish.
Richardson was thrilled to take the yellow jersey again, almost a year after he led the race for a stage. “Things worked out perfectly for us,” he said. “I was really looking forward to the climb but I was being held back . My team-mate Darren Lapthorne had attacked and I didn’t want to bridge up to him too early. But then towards the top I could see that Wilko (Wilkinson) was really suffering and it was great for me, I got to clip away. My team then drove it all the way to the finish.”
Australian rider Nicolas Walker was very happy with his stage victory in Killorglin. “It is the first win I have in a big race,” the 20 year old said. “I was one of the last in my group going over the top of the Conor Pass but my team-mate Bert Roesems did a lot of work to get me back, and set me up for the sprint.”
He thundered up the finishing straight to beat Jan Barta (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers), points leader Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls), plus the rest of the large front group. The race continues today with a flatter 155 kilometre stage from Killorglin to Scariff.
STAGE FOUR CAHIRCIVEEN TO KILLORGLIN
178kms: 1 Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) 178km in 4 hrs 20 mins 55 secs; 2 J Barta (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers); 3 R Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls); 4 J Venter (China Trek Marco Polo); 5 N Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly); 6 S Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey); 7 B De Schrooder (Ireland An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly); 8 A Gottfried (Germany Kuota-Indeland); 9 P Healion (Ireland National Team); 10 D McCann (Ireland National Team); 11 J Kugler (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers); 12 L Didier (Denmark Designa Kokken); 13 K Gilham (Britain CShire Sigmasport); 14 M Grashev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar); 15 B Roesems (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) all same time. County rider: 1 Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) 4 hrs 20 mins 55 secs. KOM primes: Category 3 (An Draighneain, 72.8km): 1 Kit Gilham (Britain CShire Sigmasport) 5pts; Category 3 (Anascaul, 78.5km): 1 David OLoughlin, 5pts; Category 1 (Conor Pass, 117.5km): 1 David OLoughlin, 15; Category 3 (Ballintaggart, 127km): 1 Kit Gilham (Britain CShire Sigmasport) 5pts; Category 3 (Garrai na Tórt 135km): 1 David OLoughlin, 5pts; Category 3 (An Draighneain, 144.5km): 1, David OLoughlin, 5pts; International team: 1 Austria Arbo KTM Junkers, 13 hrs 2 mins 45 secs; County team: 1 Tipperary Dan Morrissey, 13 hrs 10 mins 31 secs.
General classification: 1 Simon Richardson (Britain Rapha Condor) 16 hrs 54 mins 44 secs; 2 M Christensen (Denmark Designa Kokken) at 2 mins 49 secs; 3 Barta, at 3 mins 2 secs; 4 D Lapthorne (Britain Rapha Condor) at 3 mins 24 secs; 5 B Roesems (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) same time; 6 I Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) at 3 mins 34 secs; 7 C Newton (Britain Rapha Condor) at 5 mins 29 secs; 8 McCann, at 6 mins 9 secs; 9 Downing, at 6 mins 12 secs; 10 Gottfried, at 6 mins 43 secs.
Points: 1 Russ Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) 41; 2 Eeckhout, 37; 3 Barta, 32; 4 Walker, 28; 5 J Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia) 26. Mountains: 1 David OLoughlin, 45; 2 Gilham, 42; 3 McCann, 30; 4 P Williams (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) 30; 5 Southam, 27. Under-23: 1 Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) 17 hrs 2 mins 7 secs. CI Category 2: 1 Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World) 17 hrs 8 mins 2 secs. County rider: 1 Brian Kenneally (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC) 17 hrs 2 mins 30 secs. International team: 1 Britain Rapha Condor, 50 hrs 53 mins 5 secs. County team: 1 Tipperary Dan Morrissey, 51 hrs 18 mins 7 secs.
