By Shane Stokes
The Rás is a race full of surprises, and on Thursday the unexpected happened in a good way for Odhrán Doogan. The Cycling Ulster rider had played down his GC ambitions when speaking to stickybottle after stage one on Wednesday, despite being in third overall.
However he found himself in the yellow jersey after a tough stage to Clifden on Thursday. He admitted to being very surprised with the outcome.
“It’s quite funny, to be honest. I didn't expect it at all,” he told stickbottle. “Yesterday was probably the best chance for a stage win and today I was just going to try my hardest.
“I think I went a bit too hard at the start. I got a bit carried away and rode a bit too hard, so in the middle I pulled myself back a bit, recovered a bit, and then realized a group had actually nipped off up the road.”
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That group went away after the the Cill Dubh category two climb, approximately 50km from the finish.
Doogan knuckled down again, and ended up in a seven man chase group along with 2022 race winner Daire Feeley (Burren CC), George Peden (PB Performance), Cian Keogh (Team Skyline), Matt Teggart (Banbridge), Jordan Giles (DAS Richardsons) and Josh Charlton (Great Britain).
Significantly, the riders who had started the day first and second overall missed both moves. That meant that stage one winner Tim Shoreman (UK Wheelbase/Cabtech/Castelli) and Niall McLoughlin (Connacht Cycling) would tumble down the GC.
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This in turn meant that the yellow jersey was up for grabs. The time bonuses Doogan picked up Wednesday would prove to be very important.
“I knew it was possible with about 30 kilometres to go, through closing the gap to the front,” Doogan said. “Once I was at the front, I knew I would be there or thereabouts after getting six bonus seconds yesterday. It was kind of in the back of my head.
“I knew I just had to watch the counters [counter attacks]. It was by no means easy coming on the road, just counter after counter, just trying to follow whatever I could.”
Will Perrett (UK Das Richardsons) jumped clear inside the final four kilometres and would go on to the stage win. He was delayed by a crash on Wednesday, meaning that Doogan was still in the running for the race lead.
He crossed the line third in the sprint, and one of the best moments of his career began.
“It felt unbelievable,” he said. “Incredible. I didn't actually believe it until it got called out that I was in yellow.”
That wasn’t all. He ended the day at the top of three other categories, namely the points competition, plus the under 23 and county rider classifications.
That makes for a celebration with his team, although he will remain focused with three stages yet to go.
“The plan now is to just ride as good as I can, take it day by day. That's all I can do, really. And obviously try to keep yellow.”
