He says he needs to do some last minute review of the course for the penultimate stage of the Rás in Wicklow but the yellow jersey has expressed confidence in himself and his team, though it is down a man. Swiss rider Cyrille Thiery could be on the cusp of a big win, but he will also face attacks from the man strong men not too far behind him overall (Photos by Bryan Keane - Inpho)
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By Shane Stokes
He’s led the race from stage one and continues in yellow heading into the final two days. Switzerland National Team rider Cyrille Thiery is poised to take perhaps the biggest result of his career.
That’s providing he survives the eight climbs through the Wicklow Mountains on Saturday and Sunday’s final stage to Skerries.
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The Switzerland National Team rider raced into the finish in Carlow in the same time as stage six winner Sean McKenna and retained his overall lead.
He stays ten seconds clear of Luuc Bugter (Netherlands Delta Cycling X), 11 up on Damien Shaw (Ireland Holdsworth Pro Racing Team) and 13 ahead of Robbe Ghys (Belgian National Team), his closest challengers.
“I felt really good during the stage,” he said. “Today it was really a good stage for us with this breakaway. We didn’t have to work.
“I won’t say it was an easy day, but finally everything was good. It was just a shame we didn’t win the stage, with Claudio [Imhof] getting second.”
He won stage 1, when the breakaway gained time and he gained vital seconds on the other escapees. And since then he has defended well in the rain and sunshine.
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The stage featured a long distance move by eight riders, namely Marc Potts (Ireland National Team), Russell Downing (Ireland Holdsworth Pro Racing Team), Andrew Turner (Britain Team KTM) and Fintan Ryan (Cycling Leinster).
Also present was Philip Lavery (Cork STRATA 3 - VeloRevolution Cycling Team), Seán O'Malley (Galway Gerry McVeigh Cars - DoorMotion), Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (USA Jell Belly p/b Maxxis) and James Tillett (Wales Racing Academy - National Team).
The sprinters’ teams wanted to bring them back for a gallop, and that let the Swiss riders off the hook.
“We had nothing to do today,” he said. “We tried to go in the break in the final with [Thery] Schir and Imhof. But only the sprinters’ teams had to ride. We had nothing to do.”
That was fortunate as one of his teammates, Frank Pasche, withdrew from the race during the stage.
At the time Thiery spoke to stickybottle, he didn’t know the circumstances.
“I don’t know what happened. I didn’t see him after the finish, but he had to stop today.”
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So is he worried to be a man down?
“Yes, but I think we are not the only team in this situation,” he answered. “These things happen in cycling. It doesn’t make me nervous.”
Thiery’s advantage over other riders is slender. In addition to those already mentioned, there are 17 riders less than 45 seconds off yellow.
With a difficult stage through Wicklow and Sunday’s final race to Skerries yet to be navigated, his victory is far from assured.
However he’s certainly not panicking.
“It is hard to say how things will go,” he said. “I feel really confident with the team and with my legs.
“I just have to analyse the course a bit. It is up to us to find the solution to keep the yellow jersey."
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