Meath man Aaron Buggle took advantage of local knowledge of the roads on the opening stage of the Rás to grab a time bonus at the Athboy prime which puts him 5th overall, second best placed Irishman after stage 1 winner and yellow jersey Conor Dunne (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)
By Brian Canty
Aaron Buggle has gotten his An Post Rás off to a brilliant start with an excellent display on yesterday’s opening stage from Dunboyne to Longford.
The Rapha Condor -JLT strongman was active throughout the stage and as well as taking the opening prime at Athboy, he was in the day’s major breakaway and had the satisfaction of seeing himself finish the day 5th on GC, the second highest placed Irishman after stage 1 winner and overall leader Conor Dunne (Carrick-Iverk Produce)
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“I woke up fresh and the first 50k of the stage were on roads that I’ve cycled on more than any other roads,” enthused Buggle.
“I knew every bump and bend and before the stage started I had my eye on the prime and time bonus in Athboy. There was a little lull a kilometre out and I just went for it. The timing was good and I got a quick gap and held it to the line,” he added.
Following that, the Meath man got into the break of 18 riders that almost had a minute on the bunch at one stage.
“A couple of riders quickly came across to me and that then formed the main break of the day with almost all of the main teams represented. I thought ‘maybe we could stay away here’.”
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“The crowd and atmosphere on the cat 3 climb was unreal but after that the gap started diminishing and riders got lazy. It all came back together, unfortunately.”
After that he said he’d just try and stay out of trouble, which he did.
“I tried to stay as close to the front from there to the finish just in case another split or breakaway formed. But in the end it didn’t and I rolled in in the top 20 somewhere (16th – Ed). And with the time bonus it puts me in 5th so if anything the team is happy as we are now car five in the cavalcade.”
“It was great to cross the line to realise Conor Dunne had won the stage. He’s a good mate who was also in the earlier break of the day; a real nice guy! I’m happy out for him.”
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