Man on the move; Brian Ahern has been so taken with Roger Aiken's (leading) aggression on the road so far this week that he's whipped up a pair or pyjamas dedicated to him (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com )
Missing the Rás through injury is not dampening the spirits of Orwell rider and ex international Brian Ahern, as he mines the results and the live updates and touches base with the riders to run an informed rule over the county riders for us every day. In this dispatch, he tells us why he's bringing Louth's Roger Aiken to bed with him and gives us some fantastic insights into how the county men will be feeling now with three stages in their legs and a big test to come today in Kerry. He also underlines why yesterday was a credit to Banbridge CC and sets out his tips for today’s queen stage.
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Tonight I will be sleeping in my new Roger Aiken pyjamas. Who else wants a pair? Team managers of riders who have a chance of being in contention for the general classification try to encourage the rider to “keep their powder dry” for a key stage.
Riding aggressively and attacking early in the week is often considered a waste of vital energy. I can only image that telling Roger Aiken “Do not go on the attack!” is akin to telling Fr Dougal Maguire “Do not push the red button!”. He was once again part of the break of the day yesterday that was caught inside the last 15kms on the 140km stage 3 from Nenagh into Listowel.
Credit must also go to Banbridge Cycling Club. So much time and effort is committed by volunteers at clubs all around the country at grass roots level. If a club produces one rider of Rás breakaway calibre every 15 years it would be considered an achievement.
Yesterday, Sean Downey riding for the An Post-Chainreaction team was also in the three-man break with fellow Banbridge man Aiken, riding the Rás for Louth Charter Prague. That is an incredible achievement for the club and I have no doubt there was a lot of excitement in Banbridge when the gap went out to six minutes. Yesterday didn’t work out for them but you can rest assured they will try again.
Javan Nulty of the Meath Dunboyne DID team went on the attack from the gun shortly after leaving Nenaagh with his ex-team mate Mark Dowling who has moved on to the professional ranks with the Polygon Sweet Nice squad. They quickly built up a lead of over a minute and would probably have been hoping for a small select group of favourites to pick them up and provide them with a better chance of success. Alas, it wasn’t to be but it was worth the effort.
A number of other county riders went on the attack early yesterday including Eoin Morton of UCD, Aidan Collins of Dundrum Town Centre and Paddy Clarke of Castlebar-Fedaia Bikes. Clarke excelled at the 2012 edition of the Rás, finishing 3rd in the county rider GC.
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This time out, he had rotten luck on stage 1 on Sunday when he hit a large pot hole and was required to stop to fix tighten his handlebars. With his GC ambitions over, you would be foolish to bet against him winning a county rider stage award before the week is out.
Yesterday Mícheal Fitzgerald of the Visitnenagh.ie team won his second county rider award. Personally, I thought yesterday’s terrain would have been too challenging for Fitzy to get through but he has obviously trained well and arrived at the start line in good shape. It was another superb performance from him and he will probably ride conservatively today with one eye on stage 5 into Mitchelstown.
One of last county riders to be dropped from the lead group yesterday was Aidan Crowley, guesting for Dublin Dundrum Town Centre team. If Crowley had managed to get over that last climb in the leading peloton he is one of the few who may have the finishing speed to challenge Fitzy for the county stage honours. He had a tougher winter than any of you can imagine after he suffered a horrific accident before Christmas. He has done well to get to the start line of this, his 17
th Rás. He’s a real “Man of the Rás”.
Today is arguably the Queen Stage and there will be massive time gaps between the first and last riders. To put things in perspective - the county riders have just raced their three toughest races of the year; one day after another. They are already exhausted and today they will be faced with the toughest test yet as the race traverses the rugged climb of the Healy Pass. Be careful of the sheep on the descent!
Timmy Barry of the Aquablue team is yet to play his card. Today, he will be up the road so I’ll go for him to take the county rider honours.
Many will have high expectations but for many others it will be about survival. In 2001 Ronnie Brannigan of Orwell celebrated his 40th birthday during his one and only Rás. He was lantern-rouge meaning he was last overall in the general classification having conceded 5hours and 14 minutes to the leader over the 8 days.
After a hilly stage into Skibbereen, Ronnie crossed the line exhausted, almost 1 hour down on the stage winner. I was riding well in my first Rás and was a bit nervous the next morning asking him how he was feeling - expecting him to be cranky and disappointed. His response was priceless – “I’m feeling great Brian – bit of bad luck yesterday – a break of 168 riders went away after 4 kilometres and I couldn’t bring them back”. Stay positive lads – look on the bright side.
Glengarriff is my favourite village in Ireland. My Auntie Ann runs the Post Office and the Spar newsagents and my Auntie Mary runs The Spinning Wheel souvenir shop. They were probably more devastated than I was when they heard I wouldn’t be riding this years’ Rás.
If you are on the race and can find the time, I’d suggest you take a stroll down to the Blue Pool and take in the views. During the summer you can take a ferry across to Garnish Island. Do you ever ride a race and like a place so much you think to yourself that you must go back there on a holiday some time? Glengarriff is one of those places.
Brian
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