Conor Kissane knew he'd been in a bike race after the finish of stage 4. He'd spent much of the day ripping it up on the climbs of his native Kerry on a testing Rás day (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
Conor Kissane rips it up out front on Kerry Rás climbs
By Graham Gillespie
In his first ever Rás, Conor Kissane had a day to remember in his home county of Kerry on stage 4 from Listowel to Glengarriff.
The Killarney rider flourished in the hills taking a hat-trick of category two climbs in the middle of yesterday’s race.
The three ascents included Molls Gap. Kissane would ultimately drop back at Healy Pass.
But by that point he would have been more than satisfied with his day's work.
With the race passing through his Killarney team’s home town, Kissane admitted that there was a touch of pre-race anxiety around in the morning.
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“We were all really nervous at the start. We all wanted to be up at the front, and perform well on this one,” he said.
Despite the nerves, being in familiar surroundings gave Kissane and his teammates a boost.
“We would have known most of the roads around Killarney from training on, and Healy Pass and Bantry from Rás Mumhan.
“It was a big advantage to know where the top of the climbs were and where any hot spots were.
“We didn’t really do any specific prep for this stage, but knowing the roads was a huge advantage.”
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Kissane looking shattered after it was all over. Finishing in a small group with Killarney team mate Richie Maes just ahead (Photos by Bryan Keane of Inpho and Brendan Slattery)
Kissane got away in a break of four riders; Simon Ryan (Strata 3-VeloRevolution), Sean Hahessy (Viner-Caremark-Pactimo) and Ulises Alfredo Castillo (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) with him.
Former national hill climb champion Kissane wasn’t expecting to be up the road on his own for so long.
“I was surprised with how long we were out in front for,” he said. “There was only four of us there.
“And I was thinking we’d be brought back fairly quick. But the gap went out fairly fast and none of us were in much danger.
“It went out to two minutes nearly straight away. It then dropped down to 1:50 and it was holding at that for a while.
“So obviously, the bunch weren’t chasing too hard then. But once we got to Healy Pass it was all over.”
However, once caught he held his shape for a solid finish. He placed 49th in a group 3:44 down; on a day when the gaps were massive.
Yesterday’s stage signaled the halfway point of this year’s Rás. But Kissane said he doesn’t feel tiredness setting in yet.
However, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the Kerryman in his first outing at this race. He talked about his struggles earlier in the week on stage 2.
“The second day was probably the worst for me, I just felt empty that day. The weather was the worst that day, it was raining all day.
“I think nerves got to me as well. I stayed at the back of the bunch and I was worried about crashing.
“Today was one of my best days. But it’s still daunting that there are four more stages to go.”
While looking to ride strongly, getting to the finish line in Skerries and completing his first ever Rás will also be an achievement.
After that, he will be hoping to secure a first win at some point during the year. “It would nice to get that monkey off the back,” he said.
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