Ryan Mullen said he was sure he was going to crash, hard and at speed, on yesterday's penultimate of the An Post Rás (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
By Shane Stokes
Sitting third overall and leading the best young rider classification heading into the final day of the An Post Rás, Irish national champion Ryan Mullen was poised to take what is arguably the best road race result of his career.
However that could have all been undone on yesterday’s seventh stage, with Mullen going perilously close to hitting the deck.
He was right behind the race leader Lukas Postlberger (Tirol Cycling Team), who fell heavily, damaged his shoulder and was in a lot of pain to reach the finish.
“I was on his wheel at the time,” he told stickybottle at the end of the stage.
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“I thought ‘I am going down, this is going to sting’. We were going so fast in the first hour. I think it was inside the first five kilometres.
“One of the Italian riders just took him out of it completely. Obviously it wasn’t intentional but they have been riding very questionably all week. He came down hard.”
Despite the fact that the race leader was on the deck, the racing continued.
This broke the usual unwritten rule of cycling not to profit from the overall leader’s misfortune. Mullen was surprised, but also said that the lack of information may have been an issue.
Unlike WorldTour events, those riding races such as the An Post Rás don’t have radios and thus must get information from other sources such as their team cars.
“I thought there would be a bit of a lull until he got up but everyone was attacking us. I was kind of thinking it is not the kind of thing to do when the yellow jersey is down,” he said.
“But a lot of the guys didn’t know. I am glad he got up and is not too hurt. We will see how he is tomorrow.”
Postlberger looked very shaky when he stepped off the podium.
Limping visibly and also appearing pale and concerned by the sensations he was feeling in his shoulder area, he was seen by the race doctor Julian Dalby.
Sitting in the ambulance for approximately ten minutes while that examination was being carried out, he emerged a much more reassured person.
Mullen and his team have ridden really well this week. They would have loved the final yellow jersey but the man who took the race lead after stage 2 has simply proven too strong so far (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
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The diagnosis was that the collarbone plate in his shoulder from an earlier fracture had not been damaged, although he may have suffered some ligament damage.
The most important factor was that he was able to continue and will try to seal his race win today.
Postlberger started the final stage one minute and five second ahead of Mullen’s An Post Chainreaction team-mate Joshua Edmondson, with Mullen at two minutes 19 seconds in third.
Robert Partridge (NFTO) is fourth, three minutes and ten second back.
Had Postlberger not been able to finish the stage, it would mean that one of the An Post riders would have taken over the yellow jersey.
However Mullen said this would not have been satisfactory to either of them.
“Definitely not. I think me and Josh both know that,” he said.
“I wouldn't be happy to win a race because the jersey crashed out.”
The 20-year-old Irish rider has had issues with a chest infection this week and felt that he was hampered slightly on the category two climb on stage five due to a related tightness.
He confirmed that he is feeling better and better each day, and should be fine on today’s final stage.
Mullen has shown his incredible time trial pedigree in the past, netting second in the world under 23 championships last September, but this An Post Rás has confirmed his maturity as a road rider.
He has reached a new level in that regard, even though he said his condition is still building at present and he is not due to peak for another while yet this year.
Providing he returns to the race next season, though, it is clear he has the potential to win it.
Jokingly, stickybottle suggested that he should petition race organiser Tony Campbell to include a race against the clock next year.
“He definitely needs to do this!” he laughed. “I was going to protest a couple of weeks ago about that.
“I think what would make this race better is a 60 kilometre time trial on a dual carriageway. And you have to have time trial bikes, none of this road bike rule…”
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