Matthew Teggart followed up his stage win on Wednesday’s opening leg of the Rás Tailteann with another strong performance on Thursday’s second stage, but it was the visiting British rider Louis Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale) who triumphed into Castleisland and took over the race lead.
Sutton was one of a group of riders who went clear before the halfway point of the 154.8 kilometre stage, joining up with a six-man lead group, and then pushing ahead inside the final hour of racing. He was joined by the ever-aggressive Irish rider Daire Feeley (Cork All Human/Velo Revolution) plus the Britons Michael Chadwick (Britain Embark-Bikestrong) and William Perrett (Dublin Spellman Port), who led on to the steep Crags Cave climb with seven kilometres to go.
That second category ascent saw Sutton put in a big bid for glory, shedding the other three, while behind race leader Teggart put in a surge to drop the other riders in the peloton and begin to reduce the gap. The Cycling Ulster rider chased furiously but finally crossed the line fifth, 59 seconds behind a jubilant Sutton.
“The climb was really hard,” Sutton said at the finish. “I just sat on the front and tried to keep a good pace. I’m used to climbing quite a lot, racing in Spain, so it’s easier for me there than on the flat.”
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Teggart said that the difficulty of the final climb affected the pattern of the race, setting the scene for a break to profit. “It meant that a breakaway slipped away and no one was chasing because everyone was scared of this hill coming,” he said. “No one wanted to burn their matches too early, so the breakaway had a big gap going in.
“I did what I could, I went up the hill as hard as I could and got clear of the rest of the peloton, but it wasn’t enough to catch the remnants of the breakaway.”
The Banbridge rider had a 10-second time bonus in hand after Wednesday’s stage and ended the day third overall, 49 seconds back. He wasn’t panicking, though, realising there is a long way yet to go.
“The stage went pretty well, I think. I can’t be disappointed by losing yellow so early in the race. I think it would have been a big ask to try and hold it from here the whole way through.
“It’s such an unpredictable race. It’s so hard to control the race with only five-man teams. There’s a lot a lot of racing left, there’s probably 600 kilometres to cover between now and Sunday. I can see the GC totally flipping on its head again in the next few days. We’ll just have to take it each day and let’s see where we end up.”
Wednesday’s runner-up Rory Townsend is next best of the Irish riders in fifth overall, 58 seconds back. His Ireland National Team did a lot of riding during the stage and will likely be active again on Friday’s longest stage, the 173.8 kilometre stage from Newcastlewest to Lisdoonvarna. This races through the karst landscape of the Burren and then tops the category two climb of the Corkscrew with 10 kilometres remaining, potentially causing another shake-up.
Sutton may or may not hold the lead, but he’s happy to be in yellow for now. “It means a lot to me,” he said. “There are so many big riders who have won stages here in the Rás. So I’m so pleased to have done it, and especially on this stage.”
Stage two results
Horse and Jockey to Castleisland: 1 Louis Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale) 154.8 kilometres in 3 hours 31.29, 2 W Perrett (Dublin Spellman Port) at 11 secs, 3 M Chadwick (Britain Embark-Bikestrong) at 54, 4 G Kimber (Britain Spirit BSS) at 59, 5 M Teggart (Cycling Ulster), 6 D Feeley (Cork All Human/VeloRevolution) at 1.01.
General classification: 1 Louis Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale) 6:38.41, 2 W Perrett (Dublin Spellman Port) at 11 secs, 3 M Teggart (Cycling Ulster) at 49, 4 M Chadwick (Britain Embark-Bikestrong) at 54, 5 R Townsend (Ireland National Team) at 58, 6 M Cigala (Carlow Dan Morrissey) at 59.
Points classification: 1 Matthew Teggart (Cycling Ulster) 26 points, 2 R Townsend (Ireland National Team) 23, 3 M Cigala (Carlow Dan Morrissey) 20, 4 L Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale) 15, 5 M Devins (Britain Trinity Racing) 15
Mountains competition: 1 Dean Harvey (Ireland National Team) 14 points, 2 J Kes (Netherlands West Frisia) 11, 3 L Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale) 10, 4 J Blain (Britain Embark-Bikestrong) 10, 5 R Siebe (Britain Trinity Racing) 10
Under 23 rider overall: 1 Louis Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale) 6:38′. 41″, 2 M Devins (Britain Trinity Racing) at 1.06, 3 J Rees (Britain Embark-Bikestrong) at 1.35, 4 J Harrison (Isle of Man) at 1.37, 5 R Siebe (Britain Trinity Racing) same time
