Stage 5 - May 26: Templemore - Abbeyleix, 114 km     <Main Page >     <Previous Stage>     <Next Stage>

Stalemate despite mountain stage
By Shane Stokes in Abbeyleix

The suspense continues. Today's stage may have been billed as one of the hardest of this year's FBD Insurance Rás, but in the end it proved one of the least divisive. After 143 kilometres of racing fifty-four riders finished within 25 seconds of each other on the streets of Abbeyleix, the two category one ascents and three other climbs coming after the start in Templemore failing to splinter the main bunch.

First place on the stage went to Morten Christiansen, the Norway - Sparebanken Vest rider proving quickest of eight breakaway riders inside the final 200 metres. Irish riders Simon Kelly (Cork Nucleus) and Roger Aiken (Louth - Safe Cycling) did what they could to take top honours, but Christiansen's speed plus the strong leadout he got from team-mate Are Andresen proved enough for him to take the win.

Five seconds later, Meath Cycleways.com rider Eugene Moriarty led home the main bunch for ninth. Yet the placing was scant consolation to the Kerryman, who lost his King of the Mountains jersey to 2000 race winner Julian Winn when the latter took three of the day's climbs. Hot on Moriarty's heels in the sprint were Chris Newton (GB - Recycling.co.uk) and Malcolm Elliott (Yorkshire - Trinity Capital), the English duo thus preserving their first and second places overall and ensuring a big showdown over the remaining three days.

The rest of the general classification stayed essentially unchanged, although Tim Barry (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) moved up one place to fourth while Conor Murphy (Ireland - Grant Thornton) punctured at a bad time and dropped from ninth to 38th overall.

How it unfolded
With five climbs on the agenda, including two first category ascents, today's fifth stage was expected to cause major changes in the general classification. Blue skies greeted the 169 riders left in the race, a big contrast from the wet conditions of previous days.

The action began straight away when several attempts were made to get a group clear. Stephen Gallagher (Ireland - Grant Thornton), Peter Vermeulen (Netherlands - Kennemerland), Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) and Andrew Roche (Tipperary Worldwide Cycles) attacked after two kilometres and were quickly joined by Stian Remme (Norway - Sparebanken Vest), Stuart MacGregor (Scotland - West) and Dave Peelo (Dublin Wheelers - All Systems).

The septet was reinforced minutes later by the addition of Sigvard Kukk (Estonia - Kalev Chocolate), Malte Urban (Germany - Stevens von Hacht), Morten Hegreberg (Norway - Sparebanken Vest), Tommy Evans (Yorkshire - Trinity Capital) and the mountains classification leader Eugene Moriarty (Meath - Cycleways). But the bunch brought all the riders back after several minutes of frantic chasing.

An unsuccessful solo attempt by Kevin Miller to open up a big lead was followed by a second attack by the Canada - Jet Fuel rider, this time with perennial aggressors Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) and 43 year old double Rás winner Philip Cassidy (Meath - Cycleways.com) for company.

This group grew with the addition of Peter Vermeulen (Netherlands - Kennemerland), Robert Partridge (Wales - Stena Line), Mark Lovatt (Yorkshire - Trinity Capital), Paul Healion (Dublin - Usher Insulation), Jens Schwedler (Germany - Stevens von Hacht) and Morten Christiansen (Norway - Sparebanken Vest) and, by the twenty kilometre point, the nine leaders had an advantage of 19 seconds.

Recognising the opportunity, Chris Daddy (NE England), Stephen Gallagher (Ireland - Grant Thornton), Andri Lebedev (Estonia - Kalev Chocolate), Julian Winn (Wales - Stena Line), David Robinson (US - TIAA CREF), Roger Morgan (Surrey Racing League), Stephen O'Sullivan (Meath - Cycleways.com) and John Mason (Tipperary Worldwide Cycles) set off in pursuit and closing as the riders began the first category ascent of The Crag (34 kilometres).

Robinson was dropped soon afterwards from the chase, while Veermeulen was shed from the front group. Cassidy also slipped backwards, but was picked up by the fragmenting second group. He, Stephen Gallagher, Julian Winn and Stephen O'Sullivan then continued the chase, with Gallagher and Winn forging ahead on the Crag and getting across.

Up front, first to the top was Healion. Lovatt moved into the KOH lead by virtue of the twelve points he earned for second place, while Urquhart, Partridge and Christiansen filled the next positions. The picture at this stage was nine riders being chased by five, namely Cassidy, O'Sullivan, Stian Remme (Norway - Sparebanken Vest), John Mason and Andrew Roche (both Tipperary - Worldwide Cycles).

The third category ascent of Granghill saw Winn take full points, showing his intention to go for the mountains jersey he won several years back. Healion, Gallagher and Lovatt were next over the top. The chasers finally joined up with the leaders shortly after they had covered 50 kilometres, while at this point the bunch was a minute and a half down.

The fourteen became thirteen when a puncture robbed Miller of his place up front. He slipped back to the bunch, which was being led by GB - Recycling.co.uk and Tipperary Dan Morrissey, riding to protect Newton's yellow jersey and the Irish county team lead, respectively.

At the bottom of the day's second first category climb, the break's lead was just 1 minute and 20 seconds. Ireland - Grant Thornton rider Conor Murphy had the misfortune to puncture on the steep slopes, eventually losing his ninth place overall as a result.

Winn was first to the top of the Butts, ahead of Remme, Gallagher, Roche, Urquhart and Healion. Lovatt was missing, and with he and Moriarty having no chance to win points, the Welshman was certain to take the jersey. Winn also took maximum points on the next climb, the second category Uskerty Hill, with Gallagher, Healion, Urquhart, Roche and Remme next over the line.

Following Urquhart's puncture and crash yesterday, the Scotsman had a flat tyre again today; appalling luck, and a misfortune which cost him his place in the break. However the other escapers were hauled back by the 70-strong bunch before the final climb of the day at Glenmagoo. Here, Urban took full points here, while Moriarty salvaged something from his day by collecting eight points for second place. Christiansen, Newton and Elliott were next.

Five riders went clear after the top of the climb - Gabriel Rasch (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Evan Oliphant, Alex Coutts (both Scotland), Rob Sharman (GB - Recycling.co.uk) and John Tanner (Yorkshire - Trinity Capital). These were soon recaptured, but at the 25 kilometres to go point four others had more luck. Miller, Krotky, Christiansen and Lovatt quickly opened a twelve second gap.

With about fifteen kilometres remaining stage one winner Roger Aiken (Louth Safe Cycling) surged out of the peloton, bridging across to the breakaway group. Are Andresen, Simon Kelly (Cork Nucleus) and Denis Lynch (Cork Kanturk) repeated the move shortly afterwards.

With two kilometres to go the breakaway had a healthy eighteen seconds, and when they carried twelve of those into the final kilometre it was clear that they were going to make it to the finish. Sure enough, they got there five seconds ahead of the bunch, with Morten Christiansen benefiting from a leadout by team-mate Andresen to beat Kelly, Aiken, Lovatt, Millar, Krotky and Lynch.

Andresen was caught on the line by the speeding main field, but retained enough of his advantage to finish ahead of Eugene Moriarty (Meath - Cycleways.com), Newton, Barker and Elliott. The close finish meant that there was little change in the overall standings, bar Murphy's inopportune puncture causing him to slip from ninth to 38th overall. Barry moves up from fifth to fourth by virtue of his better stage position, while fellow Irishmen Sean Lacey and John Dempsey are now 12th and 13th overall. Newton and Winn lead the points and mountains classifications.

'I am very pleased with how things went today,' said stage winner Morten Christiansen. 'The team wanted to win something. I attacked early on in the stage and was clear over some of the climbs, but eventually went back to the bunch. I got away again though near the end and we stayed clear until the finish. My team-mate Are Andresen led out the sprint for me, and it worked out perfectly.'

'The hope now is that the team can go for the overall. Morten Hegreberg is third, just over two minutes back. We have been trying to put pressure on the GB Recycling team... they certainly know our jerseys by now!'

Irish rider Simon Kelly was happy to take second. 'My previous best finish was eighth, so today's result is very good. I've ridden the Rás five times and this is the closest I have come to winning a stage. Myself and Denis Lynch got across to the break near the end. I started the sprint in third place. The winner came around me and was too quick for me to get by him again.'

Third-placed Roger Aiken was also satisfied. 'I felt pretty good all day. I got across with Simon and Denis near the end, but I was a bit too far back in the sprint to do better. But I'm happy enough with that, and we got a few seconds on the field. That might move me up a place or two in the overall standings.'

Chris Newton finished five second behind the first five riders, but easily held on to his yellow jersey. 'It was fine out there. I've taken two wins and second on a stage so far, so I am going quite well. I am having an interesting battle with Malcolm for the jersey. We'll see how it turns out over the next few days.'

Elliott had previously expressed doubts about his climbing form, but did just fine today. 'It worked out pretty well,' he said. 'I think Saturday is going to be the big showdown. I am feeling stronger each day, so that is encouraging.'

1 Morten Christiansen (Nor) Sparebanken Vest 3.23.13
2 Simon Kelly (Irl) Nucleus
3 Roger Aiken (Irl) Safe Cycling
4 Mark Lovatt (GBr) Trinity Capital
5 Kevin Miller (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee
6 Rostislav Krotky (Cze) Elmarco KK 0.02
7 Denis Lynch (Irl) Kanturk
8 Are Andresen (Nor) Sparebanken Vest 0.05
9 Eugene Moriarty (Irl) cycleways.com
10 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk
11 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena
12 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Trinity Capital
13 Sigvard Kukk (Est) Kalev Chocolate
14 Morten Hegreberg (Nor) Sparebanken Vest
15 Paudi O'Brien (Irl) Grant Thornton

General classification after stage 5

1 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 18.00.40
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 Stuart Gillespie (USA) TIAA-CREF 5.11
10 John Tanner (GBr) Trinity Capital 5.29

Points classification

1 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 62 pts
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Trinity Capital 57
3 Morten Hegreberg (Nor) Sparebanken Vest 42
4 Yanto Barker (GBr) Stena 34
5 Roger Aiken (Irl) Safe Cycling 28
6 John Tanner (GBr) Trinity Capital 25
7 Morten Christiansen (Nor) Sparebanken Vest 24
8 Tim Barry (Irl) Dan Morrissey 23
9 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 21
10 Rostislav Krotky (Cze) Elmarco KK 21