Cycling Round Up

Archives: FBD Milk Rás Report 2000

29th May 2000

FBD Milk Rás Stages 8 & 9

The first foreign winner in eleven years, the first ever from Wales and only the second from the British mainland in the 48 year history of the race; a whole bunch of precedents set yesterday afternoon by the aptly named Julian Winn. A fitting result for the first FBD Milk Ras of the new millennium.  Next year there is talk of the Irish tour being upgraded to a world-ranked international race, and a foreign victor will offend no-one’s sense of suitability.

For the Irish, mixed fortunes. Two days in yellow, four stage wins, four riders in the top ten. The two Davids, O’Loughlin and McCann impressed in particular, but missing vital moves along the way meant that they finished fifth and sixth respectively. The Ben McKenna award for best under 23 rider will go some way towards tempering O’Loughlin’s disappointment, while McCann’s monopolisation of the sprints and mountains jerseys is considerable consolation, too. As for Patrick Moriarty, the Dublin Skip Hire cyclist rode consistently well to secure fourth overall.

The race ended with an hour long speedfest on O’Connell street yesterday, but in truth the scores were settled on cruel Wicklow slopes Saturday afternoon. Winn was top of the pile going into the stage, but his leaders jersey was eyed hungrily by a number of rivals in close attendance.   97 testing miles to detect chinks in yellow armour, but in truth few existed. Gethin Butler and David Peelo made a brave bolt for home early in the stage, crossing the Aughavanagh and Drumgoff climbs ahead, but on the slopes behind Winn and McCann disposed of many of their rivals and slugged it out, pedal-stroke for pedal-stroke, without any real conclusions being reached. Clear over the top of the Wicklow gap, they were closed down, scooped up by the chasers behind; McCann later escaped, finished second on the stage behind his impressive team-mate Stephen O’Sullivan and ahead of a courageous Butler, but the one minute 25 seconds he gained still left him over three minutes in arrears.

The race was effectively over. Little changes on the final day of the Ras; despite lone forays by McCann and O’Loughlin, Winn held on to take top honours in O’Connell street yesterday. Tommy Evans and Eugene Moriarty finished first and second in the frantic dash for the line, salvaging something for an Irish team which never really gelled and who lost Philip Cassidy midway through Saturday’s stage. Exhausted and demoralised, last year’s champion looked to have paid the price for what was a superb early season.

Best of the International teams was the England Pro Vision outfit, without a doubt the strong riders of the race, while the Kildare Cahill Cycles quintet rode above themselves to usurp Derry Clarke Contracts for the county award.  Happiest man on the podium, however, was Julian Winn. Laden down with bouquets, laurels and requests for autographs, the former mountain bike specialist was clearly relieved to have won, in the face of an inopportune puncture on Saturday and despite the best efforts of his rivals.  ‘It was a tough week. It is a brilliant race and a great race to win. The boys and me worked hard, all through the week and it is great to come out on top. Being the first Welshman ever to win is great, because I know the Irish don’t like to let it slip, really. But they rode fair, I rode fair and I ended up winning in the end. Just great’, he concluded with a smile.

Stage 8  Enniscorthy – Tullow

1, Stephen O’Sullivan (Derry Clarke Contracts) 97 miles in 3h 51 mins 24 secs; 2, David McCann (Derry Clarke Contracts) at 1 sec; 3, G. Butler (England Surrey Racing) at 7 secs; 4, P. Kill (Netherlands Energiewacht) at 1 min 15 secs; 5, T. Evans (Ireland – International Cargo Services) at 1 min 17 secs; 6, R. Riddle (Scotland Union Transport) same time; 7, M. Lovatt (England Pro Vision); 8, P. Moriarty (Dublin Skip Hire); 9, A. Meehan (Kildare Cahill Cycles); 10, Dermot Finnegan (Meath Avonmore) all same time Primes: Aughavannagh (Category 1) 1, D. Peelo (Dublin Usher Insulations); Drumgoff (Category 1) Butler; Wicklow Gap (Category 1) Butler; Slieve Corragh (Category 2) Butler National team stage: 1, England Pro Vision County team stage: 1, Dublin Usher Insulations 

Stage 9 Dublin city centre criterium 

1, Tommy Evans (Ireland – International Cargo Services) 25 miles in 56 mins 26 secs; 2, E. Moriarty (Ireland – International Cargo Services); 3, M. Salumets (Estonia); 4, G. Willwohl (Germany – Telecom); 5, John Tanner (England Pro-Vision); 6, C. Bracken (Dublin Usher Insulations); 7, P. Brown (Scotland Union Transport); 8, A. Crowley (Kildare Cahill Cycles); 9, G. Butler (England Surrey Racing); 10, J. Winn (Wales) National team stage: Ireland  International Cargo Services County team stage: Derry Clarke Contracts Cycleways criterium prime: 1: O’Sullivan; 2: D. Rand (England Surrey); 3: Evans

Final Overall: 1, Julian Winn (Wales) 796 miles in 31 hours 23 mins 40 secs; 2, W. Randle (England Pro Vision) at 1 min 11 secs; 3, M. Lovatt (England Pro Vision) at 1 min 24 secs; 4, P. Moriarty (Dublin Skip Hire) at 1 min 37 secs; 5, D. O’Loughlin (Mayo NCF) at 2 mins 18 secs; 6, McCann at 3 mins 16 secs; 7, Kristoffer Ingeby (Sweden Malarenergi) at 3 mins 35 secs; 8, Evans; 9, Butler at 4 mins 35 secs; 10, Tanner at 5 mins 4 secs Ben McKenna Memorial competition (best under 23 rider): 1, O’Loughlin; 2, J. McCarthy (Kerry) at 30 mins 40 secs; 3, S. Prendergast (Dublin Usher) at 50 mins 18 secs Second category riders: 1, T. Barry (Cork Triton Venelux); 2, J. Crowley (Kerry); 3, A. Donnellan (UCD) National team overall: England Pro Vision County team overall: Kildare Cahill Cycles Points competition: 1, McCann; 2, Winn; 3, Tanner Mountains classification: 1, McCann; 2, Winn; 3, Butler