STAGE 1, SUNDAY 17TH MAY KILCULLEN – WEXFORD, 125 KMS.
Kilcullen, Castledermot, Knocknacree Category 3 KOM & Hot Spot Sprint, Tullow Hot Spot Sprint, Bunclody Hot Spot Sprint, Enniscorthy, Adamstown, Barntown, Wexford.
The 2009 race begins with a 125 kilometre stage from Kilcullen to Wexford. While it’s mainly flat, a King of the Mountains climb at Knocknacree, bonus sprints at Tullow and Bunclody plus the enthusiasm and aggression of a fresh peloton mean that a ferocious pace will be set.
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Greetings and welcome to live coverage from stage one of the 2009 FBD Insurance Ras! We'll be bringing you regular updates from each of the eight stages, mobile coverage permitting, and also some less-frequent updates on Twitter. (www.twitter.com/fbdras).
We are waiting for the start...the riders will move out from Kilcullen at 12.30. The weather was wet and cold earlier today but the sun has come out. It's warming up, although the fast moving clouds suggest things will be quite changeable today.
There are three hot spot sprints today, and one category three KOM. That comes 29.8 kilometres after the start in Kilcullen, and is the Knocknacree climb. That doubles as one of the hot spot sprints, while the other two are at Tullow (40.3km) and Bunclody (58km).
12.32: The race has officially started! We expect a very aggressive stage, with fresh legs and a very motivated peloton chasing the first yellow jersey.
There were 162 riders at the start today.
12.39: Peter Ronsse (Australia Cinelli Down Under) sparked off the first attack of the race, dragging a group clear. But things have settled down again.
We are on wide, flat roads now. Good conditions for racing, with a decent road surface. Keep safe out there...
12.53: It’s been very aggressive but nothing has been established thus far... we’ll keep you posted.
13.05: Three riders are clear, 24 kilometres into the stage. However we’ll wait and see if this gets established before giving you numbers. There are a lot of short-lived attacks thus far.
13.08: Okay, they are 30 seconds clear heading through Castledermot. The riders are:
Andrew McQuaid (Dublin Zilcom-South Dublin)
Colin Robinson (Meath Martin Donnelly)
John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
13.10: However McQuaid has been dropped. The other two persist.
13.11: The gap has gone up to 50 seconds now, as the bunch stalls. It’s clouded over and rain showers seem likely.
13.16: The two leaders are now just 17 seconds clear. It seems unlikely this move is going anywhere. Their attempt is made more difficult by gusting winds; nothing hectic, but enough to sap the strength when it’s two against many.
Sure enough, Robinson and Dempsey sit up and wait for the peloton.
The foray was profitable, though; they took first and second at the King of the Mountains/Hot Spot Sprint. That means Robinson will be in the mountains jersey this evening, as there’s just one climb today.
Hot spot sprint and KOM cat 3, Knocknacree (29.8km)
1, Colin Robinson (Meath Martin Donnelly)
2, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
3, David McCann (Ireland National Team)
4, Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport)
13.20: Benny De Schrooder (An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) breaks clear, but is hauled back soon afterwards.
13.26: The peloton remains all together.
13.32: We have just gone through the second Hot Spot Sprint, that at Tullow (40.3km). Stand by for results.
Hot spot sprint in Tullow (40.3km)
1, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut)
2, James Stewart (Merseyside KuK Kinesis Bikes)
3, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton)
The bonus seconds available here will help determine the general classification tonight.
It’s spitting rain here. The forecast for the next three days is for mixed weather; some sunny spells, but also quite a high chance of rain. Fingers crossed it’ll improve later in the week.
13.40: Georgi Georgiev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) attacked and is now 15 seconds clear, riding alone into the drizzle. The next bonus sprint is 58 kilometres after the start.
13.42: Georgiev was caught, so he won’t get any points there. There’s still eight kilometres to go until that point.
13.47: Three riders are now clear, namely: Jan Barta (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers), Martin Grashev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) and Martyn Irvine (Ireland National Team). Irvine was last to join up.
They are now 12 seconds clear. Former race winner Kristian House (Britain Rapha Condor) is trying to bridge across. This move could be dangerous if it gets a foothold.
13.51: He gets across...more are trying to do so.
They are Mark Cassidy (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly), Josef Kugler (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers), Tom Southam (Britain Rapha Condor) and David Fletcher (Britain Halfords Bike Hut), and they have six seconds on the peloton.
13.54: The move was too dangerous, and was hauled back by the peloton.
13.58: The result of the third and final hot spot sprint of the day is:
Hot spot sprint at Bunclody (58kms)
1, James Stewart (Merseyside KuK Kinesis Bikes)
2, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut)
3, Rob Partridge (Britain Halfords Bike Hut)
It’s raining very heavily now.
14.05: David O'Loughlin (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly) and Ole Jorgen Jensen (Norway Giant-Veolia) broke away and were subsequently joined by Wouter Sybrandy (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport), Simon Kelly (Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations) and Kristian House (Britain Rapha Condor).
They in turn were joined by Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly) and Peter Ronsse (Australia Cinelli-DownUnder) .
However, the presence of some big guns led to the peloton closing it down.
It’s belting rain now. We are expecting the lead car to be replaced by an Ark somewhat soon. That might mean only two from each team are saved, though :)
14.16: With approximately 65 kilometres covered, Jan Barta (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers) and Philip Lavery (Dublin KTM Winning Solutions) are clear. They have a lead of 20 seconds.
The lead looks to be opening up. It’s 25 seconds now.
14.24: Now, in Enniscorthy (78 km), the gap is 48 seconds... It's twisty here..we hope no crashes for any riders on the wet roads.
Lavery is a strong first year senior, while Barta is 24. The Czech is a past national under 23 road race champion who took two victories in Austrian events last season.
Interestingly, both riders are on KTM bikes.
14.28: With 80 kilometres covered (and thus 45 to go), the gap is 50 seconds. It's still raining but it seems to be brightening up a little now.
14.31: The gap has fallen slightly, to 43 seconds.
14.44: It hovered around that point for some time, but the bunch has now accelerated. 36 seconds with 34 kilometres remaining...
14.45: It’s now 29 seconds...this move is very likely to be caught.
14.50: They are sitting up and waiting. Battle over for today, but they may well try again later this week.
With 27 kilometres to go, a bunch sprint looks to be probable (but not certain).
If there is a gallop, An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly’s Niko Eeckhout could be prominent. If there’s a head to head amongst all the fastmen, though, we think Jaan Kirsipuu has to be a favourite. He’s with the Norway Giant Veolia team.
Kirsipuu had had a very distinguished career, holding the Tour’s maillot jaune for six days one decade ago, netting stage wins in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004, and also nabbing a similar stage victory in the Vuelta a Espana in 1998.
The sprinter clocked up over 130 wins during a 14 year pro career and, although he officially retired from professional cycling in 2006, the 39 year old still competes successfully as an amateur. He was Estonian time trial champion in 2007 and is the reigning title holder for the road race.
14.59: Right on cue, Kirsipuu has shown himself...although he’s not banking on a sprint. He’s attacked alone.
He’s seven seconds clear, and the bunch is chasing hard.
15.02: No joy; he’s been caught. He wasn’t away for too long, however, so he’ll still have some gas in the tank if it comes to a gallop.
He was actually joined by twelve others, making it a baker’s dozen away. They are:
Mark Cassidy (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly), Stephen Halpin (Ireland Development U23), Peter Ronsse (Australia Cinelli-DownUnder), Hannes Grundlinger (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers), Bogdan Stoytchev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar), Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia), Darren Lapthorne (Britain Rapha Condor), David Fletcher (Britain Halfords Bike Hut), Rob Partridge (Britain Halfords Bike Hut), Russ Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls),James Williamson (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport), Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations) and Hugh Mulhearn (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
15.06: However, with approximately 15 kilometres remaining, they were caught. The bunch is all together for now.
Thanks to everyone who has written in; as you’ll understand, it’s hard to keep up to date with what is happening, do two types of updates (this site and www.twitter.com/FBDRas) and reply. But thanks – we appreciate it!
15.11: A couple of riders are trying to clip away but are not getting far. The roads are very flat, wide and exposed here, so that’ll increase the chances of things staying together.
We are going on to the finish – bear with us if the updates are a little slower for a while. 10km to go for the bunch.
15.16: Wouter Sybrandy (Britain C’Shire Sigmasport) attacked a couple of kilometres ago and is holding an eight second gap. It’s going to be very tough for him on these roads, as he’s in full view of those behind.
There’s large crowds here near the finish...impressive...
15.19: He’s been caught by a group of seven riders, but the bunch is hot on their heels...
15.24: Bunch sprint!
15.26: It was a stage win for the An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly team...fastest in the slightly uphill gallop to the line. Subject to confirmation, it looks like it was Niko Eeckhout..
We are waiting to see who took the other placings. We think that's Eeckhout's third win of the year, following on from his two stage victories in the Vuelta a Extremadura in Spain several weeks ago. Not bad for the veteran rider!
15.35: Subject to confirmation, the stage result is:
1, Niko Eeckhout(Ireland An Post M.Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
2, Russell Downing(Britain Candi TV Marshalls)
3, Nicholas Walker(Australia Cinelli-DownUnder)
Eeckhout says this is his first time to race in Ireland. He said that he's won most of his races in sprints, so the stage was good for him.
Okay, we'll leave it there for today - need to get quotes and write reports. Thanks for reading!
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FBD Insurance Rás (2.2), Ireland, May 17 – 24:
Stage 1, Kilcullen – Wexford:
1, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 124.6 kilometres in 2 hours 53 mins 10 secs (43.17 kph)
2, Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls)
3, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under)
4, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World)
5, Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia)
6, Joachim Tolles (Germany Kuota-Indeland)
7, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) all same time
8, Josef Kugler (Austria Arbo KTM Junkers) at 2 secs
9, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut)
10, Stefan Ganser (German Kuota Indeland)
11, Eugene Moriarty (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC)
12, Simon Richardson (Britain Rapha Condor)
13, Alexander Gottfried (Germany Kuota-Indeland)
14, Ciaran Cassidy (Ireland Development U23)
15, Bogdan Stoytchev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) all same time
County rider:
1, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World)
2, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
3, Eugene Moriarty (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC)
Hot spot sprint and KOM cat 3, Knocknacree (29.8km)
1, Colin Robinson (Meath Martin Donnelly) 3”, 5pts
2, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) 2”, 4 pts
3, David McCann (Ireland National Team) 1”, 3 pts
4, Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport) 2 pts
Hot spot sprint in Tullow (40.3km):
1, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) 3”
2, James Stewart (Merseyside KuK Kinesis Bikes) 2”
3, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton) 1”
Hot spot sprint at Bunclody (58kms):
1, James Stewart (Merseyside KuK Kinesis Bikes) 3”
2, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) 2”
3, Rob Partridge (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) 1”
International team:
1, Germany Kuota Indeland, 8 hours 39 mins 34 secs
2, Norway Giant Veoila
3, Britain Candi TV-Marshall’s Pasta, all same time
County team:
1, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, 8 hours 39 mins 34 secs
2, Kildare Projector World, same time
3, Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC, at 2 secs
General classification after stage 1:
1, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 2 hours 52 mins 59 secs
2, Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) at 5 secs
3, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) at 7 secs
4, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) at 8 secs
5, James Stewart (Merseyside KuK Kinesis Bikes) same time
6, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World) at 11 secs
7, Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia)
8, Joachim Tolles (Germany Kuota-Indeland)
9, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
10, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), all same time
11, David McCann (Ireland National Team), at 12 secs
12, Rob Partridge (Britain Halfords Bike Hut), same time
13, Josef Kugler (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers), at 13 secs
14, Stefan Ganser (Germany Kuota-Indeland)
15, Eugene Moriarty (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC), both same time
Points:
1, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M.Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 15
2, Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) 14
3, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) 13
4, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World) 12
5, Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant Veoila) 11
Mountains:
1, Colin Robinson (Meath Martin Donnelly) 5 pts
2, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) 4
3, David McCann (Ireland National Team) 3
4, Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport) 2
Under 23:
1, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) 2 hours 53 mins 6 secs
2, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World) at 4 secs
3, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) same time
4, Ciaran Cassidy (Ireland Development Under 23) at 6 secs
5, Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) same time
CI Category 2:
1, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World), 2 hours 53 mins 6 secs
2, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), same time
3, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), at 2 secs
County rider:
1, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World), 2 hours 53 mins 10 secs
2, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
3, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), both same time
International team:
1, Germany Kuota Indeland, 8 hours 39 mins 34 secs
2, Norway Giant Veoila
3, Britain Candi TV – Marshall’s Pasta, both same time
County team:
1, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, 8 hours 39 mins 34 secs
2, Kildare Projector World, same time
3, Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC, at 2 secs
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Here Live Reports were last updated:Feb 2nd, 2010 - 19:01:59
