|
|
|
Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
HEALION WINS IN CASTLEBAR AS RICHARDSON HOLDS ONTO YELLOW
By Shane Stokes
22 May 2009,
|
Email this article
|
Six stages into the race, Paul Healion today took the first victory by an Irish rider in the 2009 FBD Ras when he won a big bunch gallop into Castlebar. Showing a superb turn of speed against some far more experienced competitors, the 30 year old Dubliner scorched up the finishing straight and hit the line comfortably ahead.
The Ireland National Team rider beat quadruple Tour de France stage victor Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia), double 2009 Rás stage winner Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) and the former Belgian road race champion Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), as well as the rest of the bunch.
“I’m absolutely delighted – over the moon,” he said afterwards, commenting on his first ever stage victory in the race. “It has been a long time coming...I have ridden the Rás nine or 10 times, so I’ve waited this long.”
Race leader Simon Richardson had a relatively stress-free day, and moved one stage closer towards winning the overall race. He finished safely in the main bunch and thus preserved his advantage over all of his rivals.
“We have got the strongest team in the race here and today the guys set an infernal pace,” he said, referring to the control the Rapha Condor team exercised on the peloton. “I think everyone in the bunch was cursing [because of the speed]. If we have another day like today the chances of retaining the yellow jersey right through to the finish are good. They increase day by day but, that said, you can never count your chickens in this race because it is just too difficult to control. With small teams you have to fight every inch of the way.”
The stage was marked by a number of unsuccessful early attacks before a five man group moved away approximately 50 kilometres after the start in Scariff. This comprised Laurent Didier (Denmark Designa Kokken), former race leader Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut), Brian Kenneally (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC), Peter Ronsse (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) and Espen Jogert (Norway Giant-Veolia).
Wilkinson had started the day sixth overall, three minutes and 29 seconds behind Richardson, and so was considered a threat. The Rapha-Condor-led peloton didn’t give the move any leeway until Wilkinson sat up and went back to the bunch, perhaps realising that no rein would be given as long as he was part of the escape.
The other four pressed on, opening up a maximum lead of over two minutes, but they were ultimately caught 40 kilometres from the finish. David McCann (Ireland National Team), Steve Calland (Britain Surrey Racing League) and Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations) surged clear ten kilometres later but the first two sat up soon afterwards. Peter Hawkins persisted for a few more kilometres before he too was reeled in.
“Today it took 50 kilometres for the break to go, so we raced to that point attacking and covering moves,” continued Richardson. “From there to the finish my four team mates were on the front ..we had very little help until maybe ten kilometres to go, when the sprinters got a whiff of the win.”
Healion has been finishing well this week and he was one of those who felt that he is in with a shout of victory. He positioned himself well and had the legs to finish off the effort. Everything went to plan.
“It was a really tight finish,” he said. “There were three roundabouts to negotiate at the end and I kind of got swamped with about 500 metres to go. I saw the bend at 300 metres to go and I jumped into the corner first. Then I kicked again.
“I didn’t believe I had a gap. I looked under my wheel with about one hundred metres to go and I knew I had it then. I had plenty of time to celebrate.”
Three other Irish riders finished in the first fifteen. Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) was ninth, the 18 year old landing his fourth top ten of the week, Aidan Crowley (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC) was twelfth and Seán Downey (Ireland National Team) was fourteenth.
Bennett has now finished sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth on stages; not bad at all for the first-year senior’s first FBD Rás. Apart from taking the award for the best county rider on today’s stage, he is also second in the county rider classification, third in the Under 23 competition and nineteenth in the overall classification.
He is hungry for more, though. “I am happy enough but I am doing so well now that I kind of hope I can do better,” he said after the stage. “I am hoping that if I can get into the right position I can compete with the top guys.
“Today was very fast. I was really struggling at times but near the end I kind of came into my element and it was much better.”
Fellow Irish rider David O’Loughlin sounded more satisfied after the stage. He bolstered his lead in the King of the Mountains competition when he won the first of the day’s two climbs, and is now almost certain of the final victory in that classification.
“I think at this point in the race I am feeling pretty confident about holding onto the mountains jersey now,” he confirmed after the stage.
There was also no change in the other jerseys, with Russell Downing (Britain CandiTV Marshall’s Pasta) keeping the green jersey of best sprinter and Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) remaining best young rider,
As for Kenneally, he had a strong ride and is clearly in very good form. However he was annoyed after the stage, having spent almost 70 kilometres off the front and having nothing to show for it. “The Rás very frustrating this year,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of negative racing. I couldn’t get the other guys in the break to ride hard; I started pushing it and they said that they would not ride with me if I didn’t back off. I felt very good up there but we ended up being caught. If they'd dug deeper early on we could have had a chance.”
He said that he’ll try to have a go again, and has two more chances before the race ends in Skerries on Sunday.
The first of those will come tomorrow with the penultimate stage, a mainly flat 150 kilometre race from Castlebar to Clara.
How it unfolded:
The sixth stage of the FBD Insurance Rás was a mainly flat one, with just two category three climbs awaiting the riders. These were Lecarrow and Killanena 8.1 and 18.3 kilometres after the start. There were two non starters, Ciaran Cassidy (Ireland Development Under 23) and Hugh Mulhearn (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), and 148 riders signed on. Shortly after the start six riders clipped away, namely Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Paul Healion (Ireland National Team), Laurent Didier (Denmark Designa Kokken), David Brennan (Mayo Castlebar WesternEdge), Patrick Clarke (Mayo Castlebar WesternEdge)and Mark Power (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), but these were reeled in soon afterwards.
Eeckhout went again soon afterwards, along with James Moss (Merseyside Kuk Kinesis Bikes) and John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), trying to build a lead heading onto the category three climb of Lecarrow. They were however caught before the summit, where KOM leader David O'Loughlin (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) boosted his chances of winning the classification when he was first to the top. Bjorn Glasner (Germany Kuota-Indeland), O’Loughlin’s closest rival Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport) and Georgi Georgiev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) were next over the line.
After about 12 kilometres of racing, David McCann (Ireland National Team), Jacques j.v.Rensburg (China Trek Marco Polo) and Brian Kenneally (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC) jumped clear. Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) got up to them soon afterwards, as did Stefan Poll (Austria Arbo KTM Junkers). They opened up a lead of sixteen seconds but some others came up to them; Spas Gyurov (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) took top points at the category three Killanena (km 18.3) climb, with Mads Christensen (Denmark Designa Kokken), McCann and race leader Simon Richardson (Britain Rapha Condor) next over the prime line.
Several others tried to get away after that point. The next dangerous-looking move came 36 kilometres after the start when Martyn Irvine (Ireland National Team), Peter Ronsse (Australia Cinelli-Down Under), Espen Jogert (Norway Giant-Veolia), Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls), Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport)and Stephen Surdival (Dublin DTC Orwell Wheelers) went clear. They opened a lead of twelve seconds, but were closed down.
Then, 49 kilometres into the stage, Laurent Didier (Denmark Designa Kokken) and Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) accelerated. Brian Kenneally (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC), Peter Ronsse (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) and Espen Jogert (Norway Giant-Veolia) got across and started to pull away. They quickly gained 22 seconds, and the lead then extended out further when Wilkinson dropped back. The reasons for this were not clear, but it was presumed that he realised that his high placing in the general classification would mean the move could not succeed.
Once he returned to the peloton, it meant that Kenneally was best placed of the riders there. He had started the day seventeenth, over seventeen minutes back, and so the break was given a little more freedom. By the feedzone, 90-odd kilometres after the start, their advantage was over two minutes over the Rapha-Condor and Denmark Designa Kokken-led main bunch.
However, as Kenneally said after the stage, the group was not working well. The gap soon plummeted and, with 118 kilometres covered, the peloton reeled them in.
David McCann (Ireland National Team), Steve Calland (Britain Surrey Racing League) and Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations) attacked with 30 kilometres to go, and while Callard and McCann were reeled in, Peter Hawkins persisted and built a ten second lead. He was caught just outside the 25 kilometre to go point by the front part of the peloton; the bunch had split under the pressure applied by the China Trek Marco Polo team.
Nobody was able to get clear of the large front group, and so things were settled in a bunch sprint. Healion dived first into the corner and then maintained his position all the way up the finishing straight, nabbing his first ever stage win in the FBD Rás.
---------
FBD Insurance Rás (2.2), May 17 – 24:
Stage 6, Scariff – Castlebar:
1, Paul Healion (Ireland National Team) 159kms in 3 hours 45 mins 26 secs
2, Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia)
3, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under)
4, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
5, Kasper Jebjerg (Denmark Designa Kokken)
6, Jaco Venter (China Trek Marco Polo)
7, Joachim Tolles (Germany Kuota-Indeland)
8, Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls)
9, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey)
10, Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut)
11, Stefan Ganser (Germany Kuota-Indeland)
12, Aidan Crowley (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC)
13, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut)
14, Seán Downey (Ireland National Team)
15, Spas Gyurov (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) all same time
Category 3 climb, Leecarrow (km 8.1) :
1, David O'Loughlin (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 5pts
2, Bjorn Glasner (Germany Kuota-Indeland) 4
3, Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport) 3
4, Georgi Georgiev (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) 2
Category 3 at Killanena (km 18.3) :
1, Spas Gyurov (Greece Heraklion-Nessebar) 5pts
2, Mads Christensen (Denmark Designa Kokken) 4
3, David McCann (Ireland National Team) 3
4, Simon Richardson (Britain Rapha Condor) 2
County Rider:
1, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey), 3 hours 45 mins 26 secs
2, Aidan Crowley (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC)
3, Joseph Fenlon (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) both same time
Cotter Hoose CI Category 2 Stage
1, Chris Coyle (Mayo Castlebar WesternEdge) 3 hours 45 mins 26 secs
2, Graham Hurley (Dublin DTC Orwell Wheelers) same time
3, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) at 4 mins 18 secs
4, Chris Troy (Mayo Castlebar WesternEdge) at 4 mins 20 secs
5, Martin Gill (Tipperary Clonmel CC) at 4 mins 48 secs
International Team Stage:
1 Ireland National Team, 11 hours 16 mins 18 secs
2 Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly
3 Australia Cinelli-Down Under
4 Britain Rapha Condor
5 Germany Kuota-Indeland, all same time
County Team:
1 Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC, 11 hours 16 mins 18 secs
2 Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations
3 Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies
4 Dublin KTM Winning Solutions, all same time
5 Tipperary Dan Morrissey, at 4 mins18 secs
General classification:
1, Simon Richardson (Britain Rapha Condor) 24 hours 10 mins 21 secs
2, Mads Christensen (Denmark Designa Kokken) at 2 mins 49 secs
3, Jan Barta (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers) at 3 mins 2 secs
4, Bert Roesems (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) at 3 mins 19 secs
5, Darren Lapthorne (Britain Rapha Condor) at 3 mins 24 secs
6, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) at 3 mins 29 secs
7, Chris Newton (Britain Rapha Condor) at 5 mins 29 secs
8, Russ Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) at 6 mins 7 secs
9, David McCann (Ireland National Team) at 6 mins 9 secs
10, Alexander Gottfried (Germany Kuota-Indeland) at 6 mins 38 secs
11, David O'Loughlin (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 6 mins 53 secs
12, Rune Jogert (Norway Giant-Veolia) at 7 mins 17 secs
13, Josef Kugler (Austria Arbö KTM Junkers) at 7 mins 18 secs
14, Benny De Schrooder (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) same time
15, Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) at 7 mins 23 secs
U23 Rider Overall:
1, Mark McNally (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) 24 hours 17 mins 44 sec
2, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) at 25 secs
3, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) at 33 secs
4, Jaco Venter (China Trek Marco Polo) at 41 secs
5, Stephen Halpin (Ireland Development U23) at 1 min 35 secs
CI Category 2 overall:
1, John Dempsey (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) 24 hours 28 mins 1 sec
2, Daniel Clifford (Kildare Projector World) at 23 secs
3, Chris Coyle (Mayo Castlebar WesternEdge) at 7 mins 31secs
4, Graham Hurley (Dublin DTC Orwell Wheelers) at 10 mins 53 secs
5, Chris Troy (Mayo Castlebar WesternEdge) at 16 mins 47 secs
County Rider Overall:
1, Brian Kenneally (Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC) 24 hours 18 mins 07 secs
2, Sam Bennett (Tipperary Dan Morrissey) at 10 secs
3, Paul Griffin (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) at 1 min 38 secs
4, Peter Hawkins (Dublin IRC Ushers Insulations) at 3 mins 52 secs
5, Philip Lavery (Dublin KTM Winning Solutions) at 4 mins 23 secs
Points Competition:
1, Russell Downing (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) 59 pts
2, Niko Eeckhout (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 58
3, Nicholas Walker (Australia Cinelli-Down Under) 56
4, Jaan Kirsipuu (Norway Giant-Veolia) 54
5, Ian Wilkinson (Britain Halfords Bike Hut) 41
Mountains Competition:
1, David O'Loughlin (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 55
2, Kit Gilham (Britain C'Shire Sigmasport) 45
3, David McCann (Ireland National Team) 38
4, Pete Williams (Britain Candi TV Marshalls) 30
5, Tom Southam (Britain Rapha Condor) 27
International Team Overall:
1, Britain Rapha Condor, 72 hours 39 mins 56 secs
2, Denmark Designa Kokken, at 9 mins 42 secs
3, Austria Arbo KTM Junkers, at 10 mins
4, Australia Cinelli Down Under, at 13 mins 25 secs
5, Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly, at 13 mins 28 secs
County Team Overall:
1, Tipperary Dan Morrissey, 73 hours 7 mins 49 secs
2, Meath Engraveit.ie/BDBC, at 1 min 22 secs
3, Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies, at 4 mins 37 secs
4, Dublin IRC Usher Insulations, at 5 mins 36 secs
5, Waterford Comeragh CC, at 25 mins 38 secs
|
|
|
|
