The cat 1 climb of Glenmalure in Co Wicklow has been removed from the stage 4 route due to works being carried out by the council (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan)
The organisers of Rás Tailteann have unfortunately been forced to remove the cat 1 climb of Glenmalure from the race route for tomorrow's stage 4, the penultimate day of racing.
The cat 1 ascent was to be one of two big showdown climbs on the day, followed by the Wicklow Gap. And while Glemalure has been replaced, on a revised route, with a cat 3 climb, the change knocks some of the severity off the race route.
That may play into the hands of yellow jersey Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli), who is a big powerful rider rather than a specialist climber.
And it will likely count against the likes of Conn McDunphy (APS Pro Cycling), who was relishing the challenges of Glenmalure and the Wicklow Gap in succession on the final phase of the stage into Baltinglass.
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"After extensive investigation over the last two weeks since the repair works were completed, along with ongoing correspondence with Wicklow County Council and two separate road sweeps, we have unfortunately concluded that the road surface on the descent coming off Glenmalure is not safe for racing," the race organisers said in a statement on Friday night.
This is obviously hugely regrettable and disappointing to us all. We left the decision as late as possible in the hope that natural traffic movement, combined with the sweep efforts by Wicklow County Council, would improve conditions enough to make the road race-able but unfortunately that has not proven to be the case.
This marks the return of Rás Tailteann to the Wicklow Mountains for the first time in eight years and the last thing we want is for rider safety to be compromised at such a critical point in the race.
"As a result, Glenmalure has been removed from the route and replaced with an alternative Category 3 climb. The revised stage will now be approximately 5km shorter. All other seven climbs remain as planned."
You can view the alternative route by following this link.
