REFLECTIONS ON A GREAT RAS

The dust has settled on the 50th FBD Milk Ras and we look back on the eight-day event with the help of Ras legend Phil Cassidy of Ireland and 2002 green jersey winner Chris Newton of Britain

FEW foreigners have won the FBD Milk Ras. The round Ireland race reached its half century this year and of the 50 winners, only 10 have come from outside Ireland. Scotland's Jamie McGahan achieved a British breakthrough when he won in 1981 but another 19 years passed before another Briton, Julian Winn, won for Wales in 2000. Paul Manning became the first English winner of the Ras in 2001. Normal service resumed this year when Team Ireland's Ciaran Power took victory after wearing the yellow jersey for five of the eight stages.

A British hat-trick had looked on the cards when Chris Newton jumped away from a hot group to win the first stage and take the jersey. But Power hit back on stage three, breaking away with veteran Phil Cassidy (Meath-Lee Strand) and opening a Ras-winning lead of over four minutes.

Newton was at a loss to explain how the break had stayed away. "They must have done a hell of a ride to hold off our full pursuit team," he said after leading the chase with Paul Manning, Tim Buckle, Bryan Steel and Steve Cummings.

"We got no help from other English teams, and I know Ciaran had a lot of other teams working for him," Newton complained. "Although I suppose it's only to be expected, we'd be doing the same thing if the event was in England."

After outsprinting Power to win the final stage in Dublin's Phoenix Park, Newton revealed that he had been close to pulling out of the race: "I was a bit under the weather for the last two stages. I had a muscle strain in my left thigh and the anti-inflammatories that I was taking upset my stomach a bit. It was worse after the sixth stage - my leg was pretty numb and I thought I wouldn't be able to start the next day. But I had some intensive physio work on it and it wasn't too bad eventually."

Despite his injury, Newton defeated Power in shoulder-to-shoulder sprints for the last two stages, but had to settle for a second overall, 4-03 down on Power.

WHY S0 TOUGH?

Why is the Ras such a difficult event for foreigners to win? Phil Cassidy has ridden the Ras 17 times, winning it in 1983 and 1999, so he should know some of the answers.

"It's a hard race for anyone to win because it's so difficult to control," Cassidy said. "For the local club riders it's their World Championships and Tour de France. They'll go up the road just to say they've had a go. In fact, that's the way they race all the time in Ireland."

The Ras isn't quite as wild as it was a few years ago. "These days there are more quality riders and quality teams in it," added Cassidy. "The first year I won, for example, you might have 10 people in the bunch who were capable of racing, the rest were just following. Today, you have to be a lot more alert. No matter what group you're in, the first, second or third, there's going to be good riders in it and there won't be such big gaps at the end of the day.

"But with small five-man teams and a field of nearly 200 riders, it will always be impossible to control, somebody will always be trying something."

Cassidy played down suggestions that Power received excessive help from patriotic Irishmen in rival teams. "Team Ireland did it 99 per cent on their own," he maintained. "On the day we went over the Healey Pass I went up alongside Ciaran Power and [team-mate] Tommy Evans and said: 'Do you want a dig out?' And they both said no. If they wanted a bit of help it was there but they didn't accept it. There was never any situation when there was a string of Irish riders lined out on the front."

The 40-year-old Cassidy had an outstanding Ras, finishing second on stage two and winning the decisive third stage.

"On stage two, Kevin Dawson and myself were away and I was sure we were going to hang in there. But then John Tanner came from nowhere and won it. I was disappointed but you couldn't have a better guy to beat you.

"Next day was the stage I'd trained for all year. In the morning, I got a new pair of shorts out, and we normally mark our name on the chamois. This time I wrote 'Cass" and added '1st stage 3'. So you can see I was really up for it.

"Our sponsor comes from that area [Co Cork] and I was kind of responsible for bringing him on board so it was important to get a result. It worked out like a textbook

and was all the sweeter that Ciaran was with me and took the jersey. I was delighted - at this stage of your career you don't expect things like that to happen."

Asked to rate the British team Cassidy said: "They're a credit to British cycling and I think Chris Newton has a great future. From my point of view, the fact they were there gave credibility to my own riding because they're world class and are going to get better.

"That was an amazing ride the lads did on stage six to Arklow, when Great Britain attacked from the start and Paul Manning won with a near 32mph average speed. One of our guys, Paddy Moriarty, was in the break with them and said he was doing 140rpm on 53x11!

"The only criticism I'd have is that guys like Lovatt and Tanner are kept on the sidelines by the selectors. I presume they have their own reasons. But those guys have got such deep experience that the younger riders could learn so much from them.

"I'm 41 in October and yet I've never felt so fresh after finishing a Ras. I think it's because I wasn't riding for the GC, I was prepared to let myself go into the second or third group some days."

Cassidy is a partner in Cycleways, the Dublin city centre bike shop, which he runs with 1966 Ras winner Brian Connaughton. He is not ready to retire from racing and plans to ride this year's Irish national road race and possibly the World Masters. Next season he will ride events such as the Ras Mumhan and Shay Elliott memorial, but has ridden his last FBD Milk Ras.

After 17 years' involvement, he says: "I wouldn't like to see the Ras change; it's part of the appeal of the race for the riders, the press and the public that it's so unpredictable. There's nothing so bad as coming to a week-long race and finding after the first day that it's all over."

MANCHESTER IN SIGHT

THE FBD Milk Ras was another milestone on the road to the Commonwealth Games and World Championships for Britain's national team pursuit squad. After taking Olympic bronze at Sydney 2000 and a Worlds silver at Antwerp last year, they are aiming for golds at the Games in Manchester and Worlds at Copenhagen.

Chris Newton and his team-mates have ridden five UCI-ranked stage races this season and made their mark in all of them. It's a busy schedule, but Chris Buckle, a newcomer to the squad, said: "I've already had 34 days of racing, and 30 was the most I've ever done in a season until now. I'm really feeling the benefit; practice makes perfect."

Track endurance coach Simon Jones, who directed the team in Ireland, explained that the squad's next stage race is the Tour du Tarn et Garonne in France from June 12-16, followed by the Czech Tour of Bohemia from July 11-14. Two weeks later the Commonwealth track events get under way at Manchester.

The road events will be followed by periods of rest and recovery interspersed with track training sessions. The sessions, lasting three to four hours can be fairly brutal, particularly in midseason when the riders are 'overloaded' and often come off the track feeling sick.

It's a regime that suits Chris Newton. Although road racing isn't his main target, he is still hungry for success. "I don't like to treat races as training. I get frustrated if I'm not doing well in an event, although I'm often told to take it easy," he said.

This is the attitude that earned Newton seventh place and a stage win in the Circuit des Mines and overall victory in the Tour de la Manche."

As the Games approach, the track sessions will focus on speed and technique. This is when the days of grafting in stage races all over Europe start to pay off.

Newton explained: "You have a few sessions on the track just before a major championship and it suddenly comes good. You're so fresh from not having done a lot of track work that you're just sort of floating. I think it's a good formula and the results speak for themselves."