Stage Four to Tralee is 155.6 kilometres in length and follows mainly flat roads for the first half of the stage, beginning in Corofin and heading to Ennis, Newmarket-on-Fergus (25.8km), Limerick, Adare, Newcastlewest and then to the top of the category three Barnagh Gap (99.8km). The identically-ranked climb of Glanshearoon comes just under 30 kilometres later and is itself followed in 6.8 kilometres by the third category Barr na Gaoithe.
Less than half an hour of racing remains from this point and there is guaranteed to be plenty of action between that summit and the finish line in Tralee.
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11.03: The fourth stage of the FBD Insurance Rás has under wet conditions in the town of Corofin.
One rider did not sign on today; this was Paul Vaughan (Cork Kanturk Town). That left 135 riders in the race.
11.05: Two riders have attacked shortly after the stage start. Paídi O’Brien (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) and Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) are two big names, and are clearly aiming to take time back from the other race favourites.
They have been joined by Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords) and the gap is 100 metres.
11.08: The gap is down to 50 metres.
11.09: Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven) has got across, but the bunch is closing down on the move…
11.11: The field is all back together.
11.16: Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) goes clear but the bunch closes this move down almost straight away.
11.22: A group of 17 riders have attacked…
11.25: However the peloton gets back up to them, so things are all together once again.
11.30: There has been a lot of attacking, but nothing else has got clear so far.
It was raining earlier but the roads are starting to try out. The skies are also clearing :) So that will be appreciated in the bunch.
11.36: Three riders are now clear: they are Roger Aiken (Ireland), Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords) and Neill Delahaye (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations)
11.39: A large group of eleven rider is in pursuit and will join up shortly.
11.41: They join up and already have 50 seconds! Stand by for names…
Roger Aiken (Ireland national team), Jaroslaw Dabrowski (Poland national team), Kristian House (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk), Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven), Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing), Morten Hegreberg and Havard Nybo (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Johannes Sickmuller (Germany Stevens von Hacht), Kit Gilham (Britain Kenesis), Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords), Neill Delahaye (Dublin IRC Usher Insulation), Joe Fenlon (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) and Denis Lynch (Cork Kanturk Town)
11.47: The gap holds at 50 seconds.
11.50: Bad luck…after 32 kilometres of racing, Ciarán Power has punctured out of the break…
11.55: Riders from a number of teams are chasing. The gap is down to 32 seconds. Yellow jersey Mark Cassidy has missed the move and is back in the peloton.
12.00: The gap is up to 40 seconds.
12.04: It’s dropped to just 13 seconds and Healion is sitting up out of the break.
The break has now split and the front six are pulling away again…
Those are:
Roger Aiken (Ireland national team), Jaroslaw Dabrowski (Poland national team), Kristian House (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk), Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven), Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) and Havard Nybo (Norway Sparebanken Vest).
12.08: Yellow jersey Mark Cassidy (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) and Ciarán Power (Ireland Pezula Racing) jumped across. However the peloton closed down the move, recognising the danger.
12.11: Two riders have attacked and have a slight lead. They are Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords) and Simon Kelly (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations).
12.12: They have been caught again.
12.18: The riders have completed 50 kilometres of racing and are now heading into Limerick.
12.23: There’s been a lot of attacking and a small group got clear, including Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk). Benny de Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) bridged across.
12.25: There’s a crash in the bunch and one of the fallers is the yellow jersey…that’s bad luck. We’ll keep you posted…
The bunch has caught the break.
12.30: Abbas Saeidi Tanha (Iran Islamic Azad University) has attacked and is building a big lead. Neil Coleman (Britain Plowman Craven) has set off in pursuit but is some way back.
Meanwhile, the bunch is going very slow…it’s waiting for the yellow jersey. We don’t know if he is back up and riding or not.
That’s terrible luck for Mark Cassidy. Seemingly he took the yellow jersey on the 25th anniversary of his father’s first race lead in the Rás…nice coincidence there… We understand he and several others fell on a level crossing.
12.36: Okay, we understand that Mark Cassidy is nearly back to the main bunch. That’s good news. The peloton very sportingly waited for him. It’s a tradition in cycling not to attack the yellow jersey if he has a problem, but it’s nice that the main field actually slowed right down.
As a consequence of that, Tanha is three minutes and 19 seconds ahead. Coleman is one minute 28 back.
12.42: After 64 kilometres of racing, Cassidy is back in the main field. He has been seen by the race doctor.
12.45: Coleman is now 1 minute 32 seconds back.
The leader has 5 minutes and 55 seconds now…
13.00: There has been no major change…Tanha remains at the head of the race, with Coleman not getting any closer. It’s been raining for several minutes and continues to do so.
13.04: After 85 kilometres of racing, Tanha is 2 minutes 25 seconds ahead of Coleman.
13.20: Coleman is 2 minutes 26 seconds back now. He’s stuck in no-man’s land. It’s raining.
In Newcastle West (92 kms after the start) Tanha’s lead is down to 4 minutes 40 seconds.
Ciarán Power (Pezula) has attacked the bunch! That should liven things up a bit…
13.29: Power has been caught again.
13.45: The bunch is reducing the gap considerably.
13.57: Coleman was caught several kilometres ago, and Tanha’s lead is less than 40 seconds.
We are leaving Abbeyfeale (111 kms). Next up is the third category climbs of Glanshearon and Barr na Gaoithe, then the riders will race on towards the finish in Tralee.
14.06: There have been a number of attacks and a group is just off the front, straining to break the elastic.
Wojciech Dybel (Poland), Bogdan Stoytchev (Bulgaria Nessebar), Roger Aiken (Ireland national team) and Kiedt Yannick (Germany Stevens von Hacht) went clear.
They have been joined by S. Mostafa Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University),, Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven), Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) and Kit Gilham (Britain Kinesis). The first two riders yesterday, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk), then bridged together.
Levi Heimans (Netherlands) and Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Conor Recycling.co.uk) were the last two to get across, making it twelve ahead of the bunch.
14.20: The gap is now 25 seconds.
We were out of radio contact for a while and have heard some disappointing news. The race leader Mark Cassidy was forced to pull out of the race with a suspected fractured elbow. He rejoined the bunch after his fall, but was later forced to reassess and to stop.
That’s terrible luck for the talented young rider. He was lying sixth overall in last year’s race and had to pull out on the final day due to stomach problems.
14.26: His father Philip Cassidy has sent a message:
“The Cassidy family would like to thank all the bunch for their respect for Mark when he crashed. I just spoke to him in the ambulance and he has a suspected broken elbow, but thank God he will be okay and will live to fight another day! He is in good spirits given the situation.
“That’s what makes the sport of cycling so great as you can never tell what is going to happen next. We are all very proud of him and glad he is okay.”
Thanks to Philip for that message, and we hope Mark is back on the bike soon.
The results of the third category climb at Glanshearon are:
1, S. Mostafa Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) 5 pts
2, Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 4 pts
3, Kiedt Yannick (Germany Stevens von Hacht) 3
4, Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven),
Wojciech Dybel (Poland national team) and S. Mostafa Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) then attacked after the climb and pushed on ahead.
14.31: The chasers are at 18 seconds, which the peloton at 56 seconds.
14.42: The two leaders have sat up and gone back to the other riders. The bunch is just 44 seconds back now…could it be a bunch sprint in Tralee?
14.46: There is a long descent before the 10km to go sign. We have gone on to the finish, the roads are wet and slippery here.
With ten kilometres to go, the gap was thirty seconds…
14.51: The leaders have gone through five kilometres to go...they are still together...
14.53: They are inside three kilometres to go...Newton has punctured! He is in the break but had a front wheel flat...
14.54: He punctured inside the final three kilometres so he should get the same time as the leaders.
McCann has attacked!
We think he is still clear....stand by...
He does it! Stage win for the former Ras winner...
14.57: McCann is first, it looks like Wojciech Dybel (Poland) was second... His number was covered by his rainjacket, but we presume it was him..
The bunch came in perhaps 30 seconds back. McCann could be in yellow this evening... Bear with us and we will find out..
15.05: Okay, it seems that if McCann was more than two seconds ahead then he'll get yellow...Newton punctured but he will be given the same finishing time as the other riders in the break.
The provisional finishing order was:
1, David McCann (Ireland national team)
2, Wojciech Dybel (Poland national team)
3, Bogdan Stoytchev (Bulgaria)
- correction - Richardson rather than Vos was fourth.
McCann is indeed in yellow..he ends the day just one second ahead of Chris Newton on GC.
15.40: We'll leave it at that.. make sure to come back later for a report and results. Thanks to all of you for reading, and also for your emails - time constraints make it difficult to reply, but they are all appreciated!
Also appreciated is the support of FBD Insurance. Not only do they back the race, they also make this live coverage possible. The company is a great support of Irish cycling and we are grateful for that.
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Here Live Reports were last updated:Aug 26th, 2008 - 13:50:32
