Philip Cassidy, a former winner of the Rás overall and managing the Dunboyne DID-Cycleways team on this year’s race, talks you through today’s route and what might await the riders ahead.
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“Well, we’re into stage 3 now and despite the breakaway yesterday getting up to four minutes, they were reeled in to just 28 seconds on the line. It means the gaps still aren’t huge so there’s going to be no real pattern to the racing today; there’s no massive lead to defend. Then again, you could say every day on every Rás is unpredictable.”
“We have 145kms from Gort to Westport today, with three categorised climbs – the Tir na Cillie third cat at 83kms and the second cat Gowlaun, with the riders passing that summit at the 95.2km. Then we have the first cat 1 climb of this year’s race, the Maumtrasna climb at the 104km mark. There’s then just over 40km to the finish, so less than an hours racing after that last climb.”
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“But before we even get into talking about the climbs, the thing that jumps out at me on the route is the Galway bypass after 25kms. It’s a bit breezier this morning than the last few days and there’s a bit of drizzle in the air. I think if some of the stronger guys really race on that bypass it could put a lot of people in trouble, with what will probably be a cross-tail wind. When the race has come to that stretch in previous years it has split, so while the climbs will be a talking point, I’d be inclined to see the bypass as the first stretch that could be very hard.”
“Then after that bypass, the thing I’ve always found about racing in the west of Ireland is that all the roads are hard, they are all lumpy; up and down all day. Going through places Oughterard just after 60km – so nearly 20kms before the first climb – will be tough. This race is often won and lost on those kinds of roads rather than on the climbs.”
“Having said that, obviously this morning a lot of riders’ minds will be on that last climb. Most guys will fancy their chances of getting over a 2nd or 3rd category climb, but a 1st category is always a different prospect. The problem is that if you lose contact, those 1st cat climbs are obviously much harder and the gaps are bigger. So the way back onto any group that you got dropped from can be very hard, if not impossible. With 40kms to go to the finish after that hill, the racing will most likely really be on from that point.”
“But I don’t think the last climb could be regarded as a big mountain. It’s short enough but it’s hard. So I still think you will get a group of up to 30-40 lads arriving at the finish together. If a move did go clear on the climb and you have the right combination of between six and ten riders who are willing to drive, then you could see a decisive split in the shake up for the GC. But it all depends on the combination of personal, what teams miss the boat and who might be willing to drive both in any break and also in a group behind.”
“While the race overall certainly won’t be won today, the last hour is hard enough to see some people being found out. So this evening in Westport I expect at least some of those who are seen as GC contenders, and see themselves as such, might be reworking their goals for this year’s race.”
“A late first cat climb in a Ras stage often plays into the hands of those guys willing to have a go very early on. Many riders are reluctant to commit themselves too much too early. So for anyone who is willing to attack early – maybe get clear as early as that Galway bypass stretch - the gaps that can be gained by a brave early move can often be significant. So there may well be big gaps before we even get to that last climb. They’re tough roads today, this is going to be hard but I still think a lot of riders will be in GC contention at the end of the stage.”
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