Stage 3 - May 24: Tubbercurry - Lisdoonvarna, 156 km     <Main Page >     <Previous Stage>     <Next Stage>

Newton once again
By Shane Stokes in Lisdoonvarna

Déjà vu. Twenty-four hours after taking stage two and seizing the FBD Insurance Rás yellow jersey, British rider Chris Newton once again outsprinted former Tour of Spain points victor Malcolm Elliott to win today's third stage of the race. Newton, Elliott and nine others broke the rest of the field on the day's final climb of Corkscrew Hill, racing clear over the top of the switchbacked climb and plunging down into the finish in Lisdoonvarna.

Third on the stage was Malte Urban (Germany - Stevens von Hacht), with Morten Hegreberg (Norway - Sparebanken Vest) fourth and Irish duo Tim Barry (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) and Stephen Gallagher (Ireland - Grant Thornton) fifth and sixth.

'My team-mates did a tremendous job today,' the former world points champion said afterwards. 'After controlling things all day, they lit the race up by going very hard on the last climb and causing a split.'

'I didn't intend going for the stage, really, but it was kind one of those slightly uphill finishes were everyone fanned across the road. I found myself in a good position and just went for it. It is great to win another stage - you have to take the chances when you can in this race, as it is so unpredictable.'

Today's result saw Newton preserve his eight second lead over Elliott, with Hegreberg remaining 2 minutes and 16 seconds back in third. Barry's fine ride saw him move up two places to fourth, overtaking Rob Sharman (GB - Recycling.co.uk) and Kevin Dawson (Yorkshire - Trinity Capital).

Compatriot Eugene Moriarty (Meath - Cycleways) also rode well to hold on to his lead in the King of the Mountains competition. The Kerryman finished second on the day's first climb and while he missed out on Corkscrew Hill, he carries a six-point advantage over Hegreberg into tomorrow's fourth stage.

How it unfolded
188 riders lined out for the start of day three of the 2005 FBD Insurance Rás, a mainly flat 156 kilometre leg from Tubbercurry to Lisdoonvarna. After a one minute silence for the victims of a bus crash near Navan yesterday, which claimed the lives of five schoolgirls, the riders got things underway. Menno de Boer of the Netherlands - Kennemerland team opened up a brief 13 second lead over the peloton, but he was hauled back before the category 3 climb of Lurga. First to the top here was the 2000 Rás champion Julian Winn (Wales - Stena Line), who outsprinted KOH leader Eugene Moriarty (Meath - Cycleways.com) and Ireland - Grant Thornton's Stephen Gallagher for maximum points.

Several attacks followed but it wasn't until 40 kilometres into the stage that anything of significance got away. Mark Lovatt (Yorkshire Trinity Capital) and Paul Healion (Dublin Usher Insulations) forged clear and built a lead of 40 seconds but, with the first half of the stage on wide open dual carriageways, they had little chance of eluding the bunch.

After a fruitless 100 kilometres out front waiting for reinforcements, the duo were hauled back just after Oranmore. Next to try were Stian Remme (Norway - Sparebanken Vest), Gary Hand (Scotland), Paul Sheppard (Wales - Stena Line), Mick Hennessy (Cork Nucleus), Rory Wyley (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) and John Mason (Tipperary Worldwide Cycles), the sextet building a half-minute lead and stayed out in front until fifteen kilometres to go. Here, Newton's GB Recycling.co.uk team hauled everything back together just before Corkscrew Hill.

A big crash just before the ascent split the bunch, and when the Recycling boys put the hammer down, it caused a further reduction in numbers. Just 10 riders were left at the top, with Morten Hegreberg (Norway - Sparebanken Vest) taking maximum points. This rest of the selection included: Newton and Malcolm Elliott (Yorkshire - Trinity Capital), the first and second riders overall; Gabriel Rasch, Rob Sharman (GB - Recycling.co.uk); John Tanner, Malte Urban (Germany - Stevens von Hacht); Yanto Barker (Wales - Stena Line) plus the Irish duo of Tim Barry (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) and Stephen Gallagher (Ireland - Grant Thornton). They were joined after the top by Evan Oliphant (Scotland), while Winn and Moriarty, first and second over the day's other climb, just missed out. They crossed the summit just behind the leaders, but as was the case with all the other riders behind, were unable to get back on terms before the finish.

The 11 leaders tore into the streets of Lisdoonvarna to settle the stage win between them. Newton said afterwards that he would have been happy to roll in with the group, but when he found himself in a good position with 200 metres to go, he floored it and took his second successive stage.

Elliott took second, repeating yesterday's result, while Urban, Hegreberg, Barry and Gallagher filled the top six places. 1997 race winner Andrew Roche won the sprint from the chasing group for twelfth on the stage, 41 seconds down.

The net result was that Newton and Elliott remained on top, separated by the same eight seconds which divided them 24 hours earlier.

Post race quotes
Chris Newton, stage winner and yellow jersey:

'My legs were heavy at the start, as you might expect. It was a fast day and everyone was up for racing so it was good. I knew we had to try to contain it all, perhaps sacrificing a couple of guys before the climb. Fortunately we have a couple of guys who are a bit lower in the general classification so they did a tremendous job. My other team-mates then lit it up by going very hard on the last climb, causing a split.'

'It was just a matter of working from there. I didn't intend going for the stage, really, but it was kind one of those slightly uphill finishes were everyone fanned across the road. So you may as well go for it then. If it was a fast one, I think I would have sat there and just rolled in with the group.'

'But it is nice to take another stage. You have to do it when you can in this race, as it can be quite up and down. You can have good days and bad days, so it was nice to get the win today.'

'I didn't know much about the climb beforehand. I knew it would be quite hard, but I've never raced up it before. The name Corkscrew Hill suggested it would be really steep but it was quite a fast climb. With the switchbacks on the climb, it was enjoyable.'

'I wasn't watching anyone in particular today - I think you have got to watch everyone, really. I know I have got two and a half minutes on third place, but it is still all up for racing. Two and a half minutes is not much if a group goes up the road and you have to defend it. So you have to watch everyone, really.'

Malcolm Elliott, second on stage and second overall:

'I felt okay out there but just tired a bit toward the end. That blunts the speed a little bit. The climb got rid of most of the sprinters, but unfortunately there was another one left! I am pretty happy with the way the race is going, it is certainly a whole lot more than I expected coming here.'

Tim Barry, fifth on the stage and best Irishman overall in fourth:

'I was happy enough to hang in with them going up the Corkscrew. There were only ten of us left at the top. There was a bit of madness from about 20 kilometres before the climb because you had to constantly move up, move around people in order to stay in position. The Corkscrew is relatively short compared to what is to come later this week, but I am happy with things so far.'

'I had good form going into the Tour of Turkey, because I trained specifically for this period of the year. I only found out I was riding that race two weeks beforehand as the Murphy and Gunn team were stuck for a rider. Otherwise I probably would have been racing here. The Tour of Turkey was my first time getting top ten overall in a 2.2 ranked race - I was seventh - so it gave me good form for this.'

'I was pretty confident heading into the Rás that I had good condition, but you need a lot of good luck too in this race. The Tour of Turkey was different - it was controlled on the flat stages, whereas the Rás is different. On the first stage, the break went on a flat road. Yesterday, it was the same. In other international races, the breaks go on climbs, but in the Rás they go outside garages and schools!'

Eugene Moriarty, King of the Mountains leader:

'It was good to get some points on the first climb, that helps things. The German was up there on the Corkscrew Hill, though, so he would have got some back. It was a bit unfortunate on the climb - I was marking Julian Winn on that and we crossed the top just after the leaders. I think someone let a wheel go, that is how the gap opened. We were pretty close to them over the summit but we couldn't get across.'

1 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 3.29.55
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Trinity Capital
3 Malte Urban (Ger) Stevens von Hacht
4 Morten Hegreberg (Nor) Sparebanken Vest
5 Tim Barry (Irl) Dan Morrissey
6 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) Grant Thornton
7 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Scotland
8 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sparebanken Vest
9 John Tanner (GBr) Trinity Capital
10 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena

Mountains

Lurga, Cat 3

1 Julian Winn (GBr) Stena
2 Eugene Moriarty (Irl) cycleways.com
3 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) Grant Thornton
4 Morten Hegreberg (Nor) Sparebanken Vest

Corkscrew, Cat 2

1 Gary Hand (GBr) Scotland
2 Malte Urban (Ger) Stevens von Hacht
3 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk
4 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk
5 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Trinity Capital
6 Tim Barry (Irl) Dan Morrissey

General classification after stage 2

1 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 10.34.24
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Trinity Capital 0.08
3 Morten Hegreberg (Nor) Sparebanken Vest 2.16
4 Tim Barry (Irl) Dan Morrissey 2.32
5 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk
6 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena 2.37
7 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sparebanken Vest
8 Kevin Dawson (GBr) Trinity Capital 3.04
9 Conor Murphy (Irl) Grant Thornton 5.01
10 Stuart Gillespie (USA) TIAA-CREF 5.11

Points classification

1 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 42 pts
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Trinity Capital 38
3 Morten Hegreberg (Nor) Sparebanken Vest 29
4 Tim Barry (Irl) Dan Morrissey 23
5 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 21
6 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Scotland 20
7 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena 19
8 John Tanner (GBr) Trinity Capital 18
9 Kevin Dawson (GBr) Trinity Capital 17
10 Roger Aiken (Irl) Safe Cycling 15