FDB Milk Ras (Ireland)
19/26-May-2002
| Stage 5 - May 23: Castletownbere - Midleton, 168 km <Main Page> <Previous Stage> <Next Stage> Stalemate on stage five Subdued yesterday afternoon after conceding 39 seconds to his chief rivals, Irishman Ciar‡n Power was back to his normal high spirits at the end of today's fifth stage of the FBD Milk Ras. The Team Ireland Stena Line rider finished third into Midleton, but the real source of his satisfaction lay in his strong performance during the 105 mile leg where he easily answered the attempts of second-placed Chris Newton to chip away at his lead. Newton's sole gain was a few inches advantage over Power at the end of the stage, which was enough to net him second place behind the Polish sprinter Dariusz Rudnicki but did nothing to further his hopes of regaining yellow. The Englishman is still over four minutes adrift and must pull out all the stops if he is to get back on terms with his increasingly confident rival. "Yesterday (Wednesday) was a bit disappointing but today I felt 110 percent again," said Power this afternoon. "I had very good legs and am starting to enjoy having the jersey." Newton's team came out firing this morning, sending Tim Buckle up the road after 12 miles in an attempt to put early pressure on the Team Ireland Stena Line squad. Aided by a strong tailwind, Buckle raced towards Cork at an average speed of thirty miles per hour and opened up a lead of two minutes, before weakening and being recaptured after 60 miles alone out front. Newton chose the moment to launch his own attack, racing clear of the bunch but was almost immediately joined by Power, who then scored psychological points by jumping the English rider. He was clearly stronger than on yesterday's mountain stage, when the effects of Tuesday's marathon breakaway had blunted his strength. And, although the duo were reeled in by the main bunch, the yellow jersey went on the offensive again with about fifteen miles to go and caused chaos in a rapidly-splintering main field. Newton and the other main contenders succeeded in bridging across to him but a point had been made. Power's team-mate Tommy Evans then showed his strength by going to the front and maintaining a high speed into the finish in Midleton, preventing attacks and ensuring the first bunch sprint of the race. The leading duo continued their psychological battle by going for the stage honours, but both had to give way to the speeding Pole Dariusz Rudnicki, who thundered across the line for a fine win. Eugene Moriarty was best of the Irish county riders in sixth place. Power was clearly satisfied after the stage. "Chris Newton had a go after his team-mate was brought back but I got across to him and then attacked myself. I got clear later on in a group and that caused the big split in the bunch. I felt much better today, back to normal." "The team rode really well to keep things together. Tommy Evans was very strong in the last few miles, he just sat at the front doing 30-35 miles per hour and stopped anyone from getting away. We will keep taking it day by day, but everyone on the team is coming into really good form. We are starting to enjoy having the lead now." Chris Newton vowed to keep on attacking, but said he was disappointed not to take time out of Power. "We sent one of our riders up the road early on to try to make things hard on the Irish team, but they were very strong. They got a bit of help too from some other Irish riders. I was hoping to get some time back today but it didn't work out that way." "Realistically I think this makes things hard for the overall. I will try again tomorrow as I don't think I am going to get four minutes back on Saturday's stage. I might get 30 seconds to a minute out of Ciar‡n but that is not enough – it is going to be hard to win the race now. 1 Dariusz Rudnicki (Pol) Poland Team Legia 3.37.53 (46.26 km/h) General classification after stage 5 |