In contrast to the previous day, stage six is almost completely flat. It is, however, the longest stage of the race and the 180 kilometres between the start in Skibbereen and the finish in Clonmel will give plenty of opportunity for attacks. The route passes through Dunmanway (23.8km), Kilmichael, Donoughmore (77.5km), Dromahane (92.7km), to the feeding zone near Mallow, then Mitchelstown (135km), Ballyporeen, Ardfinnan and to the finish line in Clonmel. Those hunting for a stage win or to improve their overall position will aim to get into a long-distance breakaway, but this could equally turn out to be a day for the sprinters in the race.
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11.00: Good morning and welcome to live coverage of day six of the race, as brought to you by FBD Insurance. It’s another bright day here in west Cork, continuing the trend for what has largely been a very pleasant week thus far, although there are enough clouds overhead to make rain a possibility.
11.08: The riders haven’t wasted any time, with a ten man group going clear early on.
They are:
Miceal Concannon (Ireland national team), Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Ciarán Power, Cameron Jennings and Derek Burke (Ireland Pezula Racing), Christer Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan), Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords), Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) and Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC)
But Concannon has dropped back. However Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven), yesterday’s stage winner, comes across to the move, making it ten again in front.
11.19: The gap is now 30 seconds, and so the break has got neutral support.
It’s notable that the Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk team has no-one in the move. Chris Newton is second overall in the race.
11.19: The gap is now 30 seconds, and so the break has got neutral support.
It’s notable that the Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk team has no-one in the move. Chris Newton is second overall in the race.
11.24: As expected, the Ireland and Britain Stene Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk teams are leading the bunch.
In the break, all bar Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest)….(or Norway MonkeySpankenVest, as it is nicknamed!) are working.
11.27: The gap is now 42 seconds. It is clouding over but remains dry.
11.30: Rake is now starting to go through…
Today’s route is on rolling roads, but there are no categorised climbs to speak of.
11.31: We spoke too soon…it’s raining a little now.
11.33: The gap is now 50 seconds.
11.46: It’s now gone up to 1 minute 10 seconds… Richardson started the day sixth overall, 54 seconds back..so he’s now race leader on the road…
11.59: The yellow jersey of David McCann is also riding hard at the front of the bunch..
Ciarán Power is 2 minutes and 2 seconds back, so he could move up if this move stays clear..
Of course, Stephen Gallagher is also up overall…let’s not forget about him! He started the day ninth on GC, one minute and five seconds behind McCann and Newton.
12.10: The break now passes the 50km sign…there’s a group of cyclists standing by the side of the road, cheering them on.
The gap there is one minute and 24 seconds.
12.18: The gap is one minute and 23 seconds; in other words, it’s stable.
A special mention the family of former FBD Insurance CEO Philip Fitzsimons, who sadly passd away suddenly a couple of week ago. Philip often came on the race and was a very genuine, affable person. This year's event is dedicated to his memory, and he will be missed at the sponsors/race officals dinner being held in Clonmel this evening.
Philip's son Paul came on the race on day one. We hope that he and the rest of the family are getting through this tough time.
12.28: Healion had to get mechanical assistance but is now back in the break. The gap is now up to 1 minute and 44 seconds.
By the way, Irish rider Philip Deignan is currently 59th overall in the Giro d’Italia. The demands of covering the FBD Insurance Rás for this website and other media have meant we have not been able to do reports for that race; bear with us, we hope to rectify that soon.
12.36: The break is now 2 minutes and 4 seconds clear…
It’s pretty quiet here…this often happens later on in the Rás. After the constant attacks of earlier in the race, things settle down a bit as the week goes on. Of course, tomorrow’s stage through the Wicklow Mountains will be a humdinger..
12.44: The gap up to the leaders is now 2 minutes and 40 seconds! We understand that it’s only the Irish team now on the front…that’ll make things difficult for McCann.
12.55: The break continues to pull away, the gap going up to three minutes. We have covered approximately 85 kilometres, so there’s still 95 to go…a committed bunch could bring back this move.
13.00: Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords) has been dropped from the break.
13.03: Derek Burke punctured out of the break but got service and should rejoin them again.
13.06: The gap is likely to remain relatively constant for now…it might go up or go down slightly, but any big push by break or bunch is likely to happen later on. The break can do one of two things; it could ride a steady tempo to maintain the gap, keeping something in reserve for later on when the bunch really puts the hammer down. Or it could elect to work hard now and to try to build up a bigger buffer.
13.11: Burke has not yet managed to get back on. The eight leaders are 3’17 ahead. Meanwhile Healion has been picked up by the bunch.
13.12: In fact, Burke has also been gobbled up by the bunch. With Power up there, he’s likely to have given his all to establish the break. Puncturing made things difficult for him.
13.19: We have moved onto some wet roads. There’s a small amount of drizzle but it looks like the riders missed a heavy shower.
Ooooops! We jinxed them again…it’s getting heavier now.. Cue muttering of &***^%^$£” in the break and bunch.
The riders are now passing through Mallow. With the rain, the grass will be getting marshy here (groan).
The break have covered 100 kilometres, so approximately two hours (or a bit less) to go.
There is a feed zone set up after the town. That's important on a stage this long. Today's leg is 180 kilometres, the longest of the race. But the riders are also keeping their energy levels topped up prior to tomorrow's difficult mountain stage, which is only marginally shorter at 177 clicks.
13.25: The rain is drying off now. So too the riders.
13.30: We are now passing through the curiously-titled village of New Twopothouse. This is 105 kilometres from the start and therefore 75 from the finish town of Clonmel.
Given Clonmel’s relative proximity to Waterford, today is the closest thing to a home stage for Ciarán Power. He and the Pezula team want a stage win at least from this year’s race, so he’ll be aiming for that today.
Richardson will have his eyes on the jersey, but so too Gallagher. Of course, if they do stay away – and that’s not guaranteed – then Power should also move up in the GC.
13.41: The gap is now four minutes 25 seconds!
13.58: The situation is as before; an eight man break is clear, containing:
Simon Richardson (Britain Plowman Craven), Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Ciarán Power and Cameron Jennings (Ireland Pezula Racing), Christer Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan), Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) and Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC)
Lacey and Moriarty are Irish county team riders and so they will have an eye on the relevant prizes there.
14.03: The gap is 5 minutes and 10 seconds! A good guestimate is that a well-organised bunch can haul back a minute every ten kilometres. So if a couple of fresh teams get involved, it’s still possible to bring back the move. The problem for McCann is that his Ireland team will be very worn out after the stage, and so may find tomorrow and Sunday difficult.
14.08: The Ireland and Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk teams are leading the peloton. Meanwhile Lacey has unfortunately punctured…he’ll hope to be able to get back to the break.
Back in the bunch, Chris McNamara (Britain Surrey Racing league) has attacked. He gets 15 seconds. For one rider to do that, it's an indication that the peloton is not going flat out in its chase.
14.13: Lacey gets back to the break.
McNamara is 20 seconds ahead of the bunch.
14.28: The latest time gap of 6 minutes 2 seconds prompted a bit of panic behind. With approximately 35 kilometres left to go, this break is going to stay clear..unless the peloton commandeer the police motorbikes, they won’t get it back.
It seems McNamara was caught. However, showing his frustration with the stall behind, race leader David McCann has attacked.
14.32: He was brought back by the Plowman Craven team of Richardson, who looks set to take over the yellow jersey. Unless Gallagher can get clear of him and negate his eleven second deficit, of course.
Power needs to make up more time; he started the day 1 minute and 8 seconds behind Richardson.
We are passing through Ballyporeen, where Ronald Reagan’s ancestors were from. This is 32 kilometres from the finish.
14.38: Wojciech Dybel (Poland) and Renaud Pioline (France Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur) tried to go clear a couple of kilometres ago but were soon brought back.
14.42: The gap has actually fallen quite a bit…it’s now 5 minutes and 2 seconds.. If the bunch can keep that pace up, it’s theoretically possible to catch the break. But we’d be surprised if they do.
There has been a number of attacks in the peloton but, for now, it’s all together…
14.49: The leaders have 25 kilometres to go…the gap is continuing to drop.
More riders have attacked the main field.
They are Wojciech Dybel (Poland) – again – and Jean Marc Maurin (France Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur). They get ten seconds on the main field.
The chasers were 3’35” behind the break when it passed the 25 kilometres to go point. The bunch was at 3’40.
It should therefore be possible for the break to stay clear.
14.54: Dybel is brought back but goes again with his Poland team-mate Mateusz Komar. A group of seven riders set off in pursuit.
14.57: The field is all back together. It’s very aggressive…
14.58: With the main field at 20 kilometres to go, the gap was 3 minutes and 12 seconds.
15.03: The latest timecheck is 2 minutes 40 seconds.
Richardson needs 54 seconds to draw level with McCann and Newton in the yellow jersey standings. Whether he gets that or not, he’s clearly flying. This is the second successive day that he’s in a big break.
15.06: The break split on a small drag but regrouped afterwards.
15.10: The leaders have ten kilometres to go...
15.17: We have gone on to the finish and are waiting for radio updates...we presume that the break is still together..
The break is splitting: Richardson, Gallagher, Power, Rake and Roche push on.
Power attacks alone!
15.21: He has a small advantage inside the final two kilometres...can he hold on..?
Power is still clear, Rake has set off in pursuit...
He gets it! He is about a second clear of Rake, with the other chasers led home by Gallagher and Richardson. Roche is next, it seems.
Moriarty and Lacey finish perhaps 30 seconds back, but great ride by both..
Now, we await the bunch... it looks like it will be close for the yellow jersey..
15.25: Superb win for Power. He has a great sprint, but wanted to make sure of it, and also get time.
Okay, the bunch has finished...it is quite a way back, so it looks like Richardson and Gallagher will be first and second overall this evening.. That all needs to be confimed, of course. Power may be up to third.
Bear with us...we will have more information in a few minutes..
15.29: Unofficially, the bunch was about two minutes and 45 seconds back. A couple of the Polish riders came in ahead of it, then McCann was seconnd in line. H looked very frustrated after what must have been a difficult day stuck in the bunch...
Okay, provisional results have Power finishing three seconds ahead of Rake, with Gallagher three seconds further back in third and Richardson a further second behind in fourth.
In terms of GC, Richardson leads Gallagher by ten seconds. Power and McCann are third and fourth respectively, 1'10 and 1'46 back.
We'll leave it there for today - need to get quotes, etc. Come back later for a report and full results from stage six of what is a fascinating and ever-changing FBD Insurance Ras. Thanks for reading!
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Here Live Reports were last updated:Aug 26th, 2008 - 13:50:32
