The battle proper has begun. The opening three days of the race did little to shake up the general classification but yesterday's arduous fourth leg was a different matter.
Over the 74tough miles from Castleisland to Killorglin, which included the category one ascent of the Connor Pass, the first real displays of strength were seen. Stage honours went to Mark Scanlon, the 20-year-old fighting back from a shaky ascent of the Connor Pass.
The Ireland-Shannon Oaks rider claimed two good scalps in the steep uphill rise to the line, powering around 2000 Tour of Italy stagewinner David McKenzie and German sprinter David Kopp. Galway Telegael's Michael McNena finished fourth. Further back in the sprint, GS Ficonseils professional David Chassot finished 14th, but wrested the yellow jersey from German Dirk Reichls, who had been hampered by a puncture.
Reichl had faced a difficult day. An attack by British-rider Stephen Cummings caused chaos in the early miles; the brief regrouping which followed was shattered when McKenzie powered clear in the Connor Pass, with Marek Blazej of Poland and Germany's Christian Knees for company.
Over the top the trio had an advantage of 20 seconds on the chasing group containing defending champion Julian Winn, Ireland-Shannon Oaks contenders David McCann and Morgan Fox. Further back, Mark Scanlon and Aidan Duff endeavoured to stay in contact, cresting the top over one minute down on McKenzie. They managed to rejoin the pursuers after daredevil descents of the Pass.
Then, disaster for Reichl. The German had a puncture and missed a large counterattack which bridged to the McKenzie group.
The leaders raced into the streets of Killorglin where Scanlon took a second stage win for the Ireland-Shannon Oaks team. For Chassot, yellow.
Today's stage: Killorglin-Skibereen, 93 miles. Starts 11 a.m.
Stage Four: Castleisland/Killorglin: 1, M Scanlon (Ireland-Shannon Oaks) 74 miles in two hours 47 minutes 49 seconds; 2, D McKenzie (Switzerland GS Ficonseils); 3, D Kopp (Germany Deutsche Telecom); 4, M McNena (Galway Telegael); 5, P Griffin (Dublin Iarnrod Eireann); 6, D O'Loughlin (Mayo Connacht Gold); 7, J Welniak (Poland LegiaBazyliszek); 8, P Manning (Britain); 9, P Wedge (Canada Jet Fuel Coffee); 10, L Davis (Velo Ecosse/Montpelliers) all same time.
Primes: KOM category one, Connor Pass: 1, McKenzie, 2, M Blazej (Poland LegiaBazyliszek); 3, C Knees (Germany Deutsche Telecom); 4, J Winn (Wales); 5, J Welniak (Poland Legia-Bazyliszek); 6, S Schumacher (Germany Deutsche Telecom) KOM category three, Lispole: 1, D McKenzie; 2, Knees; 3, Blazej; 4, J Heinikainen (Sweden Malerengi); 5, Winn; 6, Scanlon.
International team: 1, Poland Legia-Bazyliszek; 2, Germany Deutsche Telecom; 3, Switzerland GS Ficonseils. County team: 1, Mayo Connacht Gold; 2, Dublin Skip Hire; 3, Carlow Dan Morrissey. Overall: 1, D Chassot (Switzerland GS Ficonseils) 13 hours 47 minutes 57 seconds; 2, J Crookham (Canada Jet Fuel Coffee); 3, M Salinski (Poland Legia Bazyliszek); 4, P Manning (Britain); 5, Knees; 6, B De Waard (Holland BRC Kennemerland) all same time; 7, D Kopp (Germany Deutsche Telecom) at 32 seconds; 8, M Scanlon (Ireland-Shannon Oaks) at 34 seconds; 9, P Griffin (Dublin Iarnrod Eireann); 10, J Welniak (Poland Legia-Bazyliszek) same time. Points: 1, Kopp, 42; 2, Fox, 35; 3, McKenzie, 28 Mountains: 1, McKenzie, 41; 2, Winn, 30; 3, Schumacher, 28. Under-23: 1, Salinski; 2, Knees; 3, De Waard, same time. Irish category two: 1, M Slattery (Kerry); 2, C McGuinness (Kildare Cahill Cycles) at five minutes 23 seconds; 3, J McCarthy (Kerry) at 12 minutes 35 seconds.
International team overall: 1, Poland LegiaBazyliszek; 2, Germany Deutsche Telecom, at 46 seconds; 3, Switzerland GS Ficonseils, at one minute 20 seconds. Irish county team overall: 1, Dublin Skip Hire; 2, Antrim UCF, at 12 seconds; 3, Carlow Dan Morrissey, at 46 seconds.
