Stage 5 - Letterkenny – Buncrana, 146km     <Main Page >     <Previous Stage>     <Next Stage>

NEWTON CLAIMS STAGE AND LEADER’S JERSEY

Great Britain’s Chris Newton and the GB team had a dream day on the fifth stage of the FBD Milk Ras in Ireland. Not only did Newton win the stage, but he also took over the leader’s jersey, which Ireland’s Tommy Evans had been wearing since the first evening of the race. The fifth stage was more mountainous then the previous four and included the legendary climb of the Gap of Mamore, a three mile ascent which reaches 1 in 4 in places and has been likened to a longer version of the equally well known Winnats Pass in Derbyshire.

As seems customary in this race, attacks came from all directions right from the gun and eventually 19 riders broke free including Newton, team-mates Paul Manning and Kieran Page, Life Repair’s Mark Lovatt,, dangerously placed Dane Ari Hojgaard and several other leading contenders, but not the race leader Tommy Evans.

This group built up a lead of over two minutes over the first two climbs of the day, shedding a few riders as they passed on their way. On the run in to the Gap of Mamore climb, two Kazak riders, Iglinskiv and Medyannikov, took off and left the break behind. By the time they reached the bottom of the Gap of Mamore climb, they had a 2 minute lead on the remainder of the break, which still included Manning, Newton and Mark Lovatt.

On the climb itself, Newton began to force the pace. The GB team had taken the precaution of fitting 25 tooth sprockets to their bikes along with tyres and tubes instead of tubular tyres. Both decisions were vindicated as rain began to fall, making the climb slippery. Punctures also began to affect the other teams, as they did throughout the stage, whilst the GB boys were spared this unwelcome problem.

Newton had noticed that his biggest threat, the Dane, Hojgaard, was riding with a 21 sprocket and sure enough he was over-geared and began to fall back on the vicious climb. In the company of Swede Tobias Lergard and Lovatt, Newton caught the two Kazak riders on the climb and then Lovatt became detatched leaving a four man group of Newton, Lergard, Iglinskiv and Medyannikov up front with Lovatt and Hojgaard chasing.

GB manager John Herety radioed to Newton to press on with the break and to drive home their advantage, irrespective of the Swede’s similar placing on general classification. In actual fact the pair worked together, with lesser contributions form Iglinskiv and Medyannikov.

John Herety admitted to being worried about the possibility of losing the stage win when Newton began to shoulder the majority of the work in the last few kilometers. He also had a radio conversation with Newton about letting the Swede take the stage and with it the race lead, soavoiding the pressure of defending the leader’s jersey. However, after a brief discussion the pair dismissed this idea and Newton went for broke.

This proved to be a good move, and when Lergard went to the front with a kilometre to go Newton found himself perfectly placed to come round him for the win – which he duly did with a strong sprint which also succeeded in putting a five second gap between himself and Lergard.

Behind this action, the race was going through a major re-shuffle with overnight leader Tommy Evans losing 6 minutes and last year’s winner Ciaran Power over 16 minutes, to leave the Irish challenge in tatters. To be fair, the whole team was dogged with punctures throughout, which hampered their ability to respond the important moves.

Newton now leads the race by 5 seconds from Lergard, with Hojgaard a further 7 seconds back and Mark Lovatt fourth at 38 seconds. The win ends a relatively quiet spell for the GB endurance team who have been trying a lower key start to their pre-Olympic year and this was their first road victory since March.

Manager John Herety was predictably upbeat about the performance:

"The boys all rode well today. Not just Chris but Paul and Keiran too. Paul did a lot of important work on the run in to the Gap of Mamore. We also had one of those days when everything we did produced results. The gearing choice was in case it rained on the Mamore climb and it started raining just as the riders got onto it. The choice of pressures [tyres and tubes] over tubular tyres meant we had no punctures all day, when other teams had real problems with them. Despite having struggled to make an impact in the race so far, four of the team kept themselves in contention and when the natural selections began to take place on the climbs today we were in a position to take advantage of them. It’s been a very good day, but tomorrow’s probably an even tougher stage, so there’s still plenty left to do."

1 Chris Newton (GBr) Great Britain 3.24.46 (39.96 km/h)
2 Maxim Iglinskiv (Kaz) Kazakhstan 0.01
3 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan 0.05
4 Tobias Lergard (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia @ Same time
5 Mark Lovatt (GBr) Life Repair Group 0.38
6 Ari Hojgaard (Den) Jylland-Fyn @ Same time
7 Eugene Moriaty (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 1.15
8 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena Line @ Same time
9 Hamish Haynes (GBr) North West Division @ Same time
10 John Tanner (GBr) Life Repair Group @ Same time

11 Ian McLeod (RSA) Team HSBC @ Same time
12 Roger Morgan (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk @ Same time
13 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain @ Same time
14 Josh Beck (USA) Sportsbook.com 1.22
15 Raymond Clarke (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 3.58
16 Daniel Spence (RSA) Team HSBC 5.38
17 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) London Irish Team Sdeals/Jbc 6.03
18 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan @ Same time
19 Michael Larsen (Den) Jylland-Fyn @ Same time
20 Dave Worthington (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk @ Same time
21 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Cambridge Team Dataphonics @ Same time
22 Carl Henning Brondberg (Den) Jylland-Fyn @ Same time
23 Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia @ Same time
24 Patrick Moriaty (Irl) Dublin Skip @ Same time
25 Kieran Page (GBr) Great Britain @ Same time
26 Thomas Evans (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council
27 Steve Cummings (GBr) Great Britain 7.22
28 Paul Griffin (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann 7.24
29 David Berkeley (NZl) Team gbcycles.co.uk 7.26

30 Jamie Norfolk (GBr) Stena Line 7.30
31 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia@ Same time
32 Jonas Holmkvist (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia@ Same time
33 Neil Swithenbank (GBr) North West Division@ Same time
34 David Harrigan (Aus) Team Down Under 8.06
35 David Peelo (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations 8.08
36 Michael Mulcahy (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations @ Same time
37 Philip Finegan (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways @ Same time
38 Keith Gallagher (Irl) Kildare North @ Same time
39 Kevin Dawson (GBr) Life Repair Group @ Same time
40 Neil Smith (GBr) Lincoln @ Same time
41 John Dempsey (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann @ Same time
42 Joe Fenlon (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey @ Same time
43 Brian Ahern (Irl) Kildare HirEquip @ Same time
44 Lawrence Perera (USA) Sportsbook.com @ Same time
45 Patrick Kohler (Ger) Rg Gutersloh/Neheim @ Same time
46 John Charlesworth (GBr) primera-bournemouth @ Same time
47 Andrew Donnellan (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council @ Same time
48 Sven Biermann (Ger) Rg Gutersloh/Neheim @ Same time
49 Jeff Howes (RSA) Team HSBC @ Same time
50 Vadin Gorbachevskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan @ Same time

51 Ritchie Cahill (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey @ Same time
52 Richard Eastham (GBr) primera-bournemouth 8.36
53 Gareth Jones (GBr) Energy Cycles Principia 10.48
54 Brian Larsen (Den) Jylland-Fyn @ Same time
55 Mikael Segarsall (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 12.37
56 Ciarán Power (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council 16.48
57 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council @ Same time
58 Graham Briggs (GBr) Life Repair Group 19.41
59 Christopher Belsham (GBr) primera-bournemouth @ Same time
60 Rob Enslin (RSA) Cambridge Team Dataphonics @ Same time
61 Matt Melville (GBr) Cambridge Team Dataphonics @ Same time
62 Feargal Kelly (Irl) Wicklow Sahara 25.44
63 Brian Stewart (GBr) Dublin Usher Insulations @ Same time
64 Mark McLeavey (Irl) Dublin Skip @ Same time
65 Greg Roche (GBr) Energy Cycles Principia @ Same time
66 Gary Dodd (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk @ Same time
67 Kieran McMahon (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann @ Same time
68 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Life Repair Group @ Same time
69 John Horgan (Irl) Dublin Skip @ Same time
70 Aidan Reade (Irl) Mayo Galway Bay 25.59

71 Frank O'Leary (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations @ Same time
72 Gary Sheehan (Irl) Kildare North @ Same time
73 Tony Brady (Irl) Meath Donnelly Avonmore @ Same time
74 Craig Sweetman (Irl) Meath Donnelly Avonmore @ Same time
75 Matt Svatek (USA) Sportsbook.com @ Same time
76 Adrian Hedderman (Irl) Dublin Skip @ Same time
77 Michael Devins (Irl) Mayo Galway Bay 26.49
78 Stephen Gibson (GBr) primera-bournemouth @ Same time
79 John Peppard (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann @ Same time
80 James Dobbin (GBr) Lincoln @ Same time
81 Justin Hoy (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk @ Same time
82 Ben Hallam (GBr) Cambridge Team Dataphonics @ Same time
83 Christopher Varley (GBr) North West Division @ Same time
84 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Down Under @ Same time
85 Brian Lynch (Irl) Dublin Orwell @ Same time
86 Vincent Gleeson (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council @ Same time
87 Aidan Crowley (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways @ Same time
88 Stephen O'Sullivan (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways @ Same time
89 Nick Kenwright (GBr) Bici Imports-CSN-Rudy Proj @ Same time
90 Laurence Roche (Irl) Kildare North @ Same time
91 Colm Bracken (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann @ Same time
92 Ryan Leech (USA) Bici Imports-CSN-Rudy Proj @ Same time
93 Paul Sheppard (GBr) Stena Line @ Same time
94 Adam Hodges Myerson (USA) Sportsbook.com 27.48
95 Derek Finnegan (Irl) Meath Donnelly Avonmore 29.22
96 John Paul Hillard (Irl) Dublin Skip @ Same time
97 Brian Kenneally (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey @ Same time
98 Padraig Marrey (Irl) Mayo Galway Bay @ Same time
99 Fintan McCormack (Irl) Kildare Newbridge @ Same time
100 David Tansey (Irl) Dublin Orwell @ Same time

101 Scott McDonald (Irl) Dublin Orwell @ Same time
102 Edward O'Donoghue (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations @ Same time
103 John Wall (Irl) Kildare North @ Same time
104 Cody Stevenson (Aus) Team Down Under @ Same time
105 Derek Cunningham (Irl) Wicklow Sahara @ Same time
106 Tom Greene (Irl) Kildare Newbridge 33.12
107 Matthew Yates (NZl) Team Down Under 37.38
108 Jaaron Poad (Aus) Team Down Under @ Same time
109 Isaiah Adams (USA) Bici Imports-CSN-Rudy Proj 42.57
110 Sean Furley (Irl) London Irish Team Sdeals/Jbc 43.51
111 Tim Barry (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey @ Same time

General classification after stage 5
1 Chris Newton (GBr) Great Britain 19.44.03
2 Tobias Lergard (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 0.05
3 Ari Hojgaard (Den) Jylland-Fyn 0.12
4 Mark Lovatt (GBr) Life Repair Group 0.38
5 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 1.15
6 John Tanner (GBr) Life Repair Group
7 Hamish Haynes (GBr) North West Division
8 Ian McLeod (RSA) Team HSBC 2.09
9 Thomas Evans (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council 5.33
10 Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 6.02

11 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan 6.03
12 Kieran Page (GBr) Great Britain
13 Patrick Moriaty (Irl) Dublin Skip
14 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan 7.12
15 Steve Cummings (GBr) Great Britain 7.22
16 Paul Griffin (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann 7.24
17 Jonas Holmkvist (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 7.27
18 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena Line 13.15
19 Eugene Moriaty (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 14.32
20 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council 16.48

21 Ciarán Power (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council
22 Andrew Donnellan (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council 17.22
23 Dave Worthington (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk 18.03
24 Raymond Clarke (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 18.46
25 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 19.30
26 Neil Smith (GBr) Lincoln 20.08
27 Ritchie Cahill (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey
28 Kevin Dawson (GBr) Life Repair Group 20.26
29 Daniel Spence (RSA) Team HSBC
30 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) London Irish Team Sdeals/Jbc 20.51

31 Patrick Kohler (Ger) Rg Gutersloh/Neheim 21.15
32 Roger Morgan (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk 22.02
33 Brian Ahern (Irl) Kildare HirEquip 22.47
34 David Harrigan (Aus) Team Down Under 22.49
35 Keith Gallagher (Irl) Kildare North 22.51
36 Michael Mulcahy (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations 22.56
37 Joe Fenlon (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey
38 John Charlesworth (GBr) primera-bournemouth
39 Maxim Iglinskiv (Kaz) Kazakhstan 23.55
40 Vadin Gorbachevskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan 24.17
41 Sven Biermann (Ger) Rg Gutersloh/Neheim 25.28
42 Brian Larsen (Den) Jylland-Fyn 26.20
43 Mikael Segarsall (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 27.25
44 Jeff Howes (RSA) Team HSBC 31.43
45 David Peelo (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations
46 John Dempsey (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann
47 Richard Eastham (GBr) primera-bournemouth 32.11
48 Gary Dodd (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk 34.17
49 Christopher Belsham (GBr) primera-bournemouth 34.29
50 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Cambridge Team Dataphonics 35.34

51 Gareth Jones (GBr) Energy Cycles Principia 35.44
52 David Berkeley (NZl) Team gbcycles.co.uk 36.57
53 Carl Henning Brondberg (Den) Jylland-Fyn 37.17
54 Cody Stevenson (Aus) Team Down Under 44.06
55 Edward O'Donoghue (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations 44.10
56 Jamie Norfolk (GBr) Stena Line 48.34
57 Rob Enslin (RSA) Cambridge Team Dataphonics 49.12
58 Kieran McMahon (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann 49.19
59 Brian Stewart (GBr) Dublin Usher Insulations
60 Stephen O'Sullivan (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 50.24

61 Neil Swithenbank (GBr) North West Division 52.41
62 Michael Larsen (Den) Jylland-Fyn 53.36
63 John Horgan (Irl) Dublin Skip 55.15
64 Philip Finegan (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 55.41
65 Lawrence Perera (USA) Sportsbook.com
66 Ben Hallam (GBr) Cambridge Team Dataphonics 56.20
67 John Peppard (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann 58.20
68 Matt Svatek (USA) Sportsbook.com 58.44
69 Tim Barry (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey 59.49
70 Brian Kenneally (Irl) Tipperary Dan Morrissey 1.00.52

71 Josh Beck (USA) Sportsbook.com 1.03.45
72 Jaaron Poad (Aus) Team Down Under 1.03.56
73 Matt Melville (GBr) Cambridge Team Dataphonics 1.07.14
74 Graham Briggs (GBr) Life Repair Group 1.08.35
75 Justin Hoy (GBr) Team gbcycles.co.uk 1.09.14
76 Tom Barras (GBr) Team Down Under 1.11.34
77 Greg Roche (GBr) Energy Cycles Principia 1.13.17
78 Adrian Hedderman (Irl) Dublin Skip 1.13.32
79 Nick Kenwright (GBr) Bici Imports-CSN-Rudy Proj 1.13.49
80 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Life Repair Group 1.14.05

81 Scott McDonald (Irl) Dublin Orwell 1.14.07
82 James Dobbin (GBr) Lincoln 1.15.43
83 Paul Sheppard (GBr) Stena Line 1.20.02
84 Colm Bracken (Irl) Dublin Iarnród Eireann 1.24.00
85 Vincent Gleeson (Irl) Ireland - Irish Sports Council 1.25.16
86 Derek Finnegan (Irl) Meath Donnelly Avonmore 1.29.35
87 Christopher Varley (GBr) North West Division 1.31.24
88 Aidan Crowley (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 1.31.49
89 Frank O'Leary (Irl) Dublin Usher Insulations 1.33.10
90 Adam Hodges Myerson (USA) Sportsbook.com 1.33.40

91 John Paul Hillard (Irl) Dublin Skip 1.35.00
92 Matthew Yates (NZl) Team Down Under 1.36.31
93 Padraig Marrey (Irl) Mayo Galway Bay 1.38.53
94 Laurence Roche (Irl) Kildare North 1.38.59
95 Tom Greene (Irl) Kildare Newbridge 1.40.14
96 Craig Sweetman (Irl) Meath Donnelly Avonmore 1.40.39
97 Tony Brady (Irl) Meath Donnelly Avonmore
98 Stephen Gibson (GBr) primera-bournemouth 1.40.56
99 Michael Devins (Irl) Mayo Galway Bay 1.47.54
100 Mark McLeavey (Irl) Dublin Skip 1.48.51

101 Brian Lynch (Irl) Dublin Orwell 1.49.32
102 Ryan Leech (USA) Bici Imports-CSN-Rudy Proj 1.54.33
103 Feargal Kelly (Irl) Wicklow Sahara 1.58.11
104 Gary Sheehan (Irl) Kildare North 2.06.49
105 Aidan Reade (Irl) Mayo Galway Bay 2.16.35
106 Fintan McCormack (Irl) Kildare Newbridge 2.19.37
107 David Tansey (Irl) Dublin Orwell 2.41.49
108 Isaiah Adams (USA) Bici Imports-CSN-Rudy Proj 2.46.04
109 Derek Cunningham (Irl) Wicklow Sahara 2.59.44
110 John Wall (Irl) Kildare North 3.04.02
111 Sean Furley (Irl) London Irish Team Sdeals/Jbc 3.34.24

Points classification
1 Jonas Holmkvist (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 45 pts
2 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan 40
3 Eugene Moriaty (Irl) Meath Lee Strand Cycleways 35
4 Chris Newton (GBr) Great Britain 31

Mountains classification
1 Maxim Iglinskiv (Kaz) Kazakhstan 45 pts
2 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan 38
3 Chris Newton (GBr) Great Britain 19
4 Mark Lovatt (GBr) Life Repair Group 14

U23 classification
1 Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Bianchi Scandinavia 19.50.05
2 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan 0.01
3 Kieran Page (GBr) Great Britain

5 Steve Cummings (GBr) Great Britain 1.20

Teams classification
1 Great Britain 59.19.27
2 Sweden Bianchi Scandinavia 6.20
3 Lancaster Life Repair Group 15.01