Aggressive McLaughlin again infiltrates main breakaway at Tour of Britain

McLaughlin (centre) rides in today’s main breakaway at the Tour of Britain

By Gavin McLoughlin

Donegal’s Ronan McLaughlin has again underlined the fact that he is in the form of his life with another powerful ride at the Tour of Britain today, Saturday.

The ever-aggressive An Post-Sean Kelly rider constituted part of a ten-man breakaway that would eventually produce the day’s winner on the 170km stage 7 from Barnstaple to Dartmouth. McLaughlin’s ability to ride from the front again today comes after he took the combativity prize on stage 4, when he was also in the main move of the day and attacked that escape inside the last 10km.

A ferociously pacey start to the morning at the Tour of Britain today was marked by multiple unsuccessful attacks as many teams attempted to salvage a result from the final days of the race.

Rivals of general classification leader Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) toiled to keep the field together in an attempt to claim the three valuable bonus seconds on offer at the first intermediate sprint in Great Torrington. And sure enough, the morning’s second place GC starter Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) crossed the line first to trim the Endura Racing man’s advantage to ten seconds.

Almost immediately the terrain ramped up for the ascent of South Hill as an elite group containing Tiernan-Locke went clear.

Howard was unable to follow, and the escape would fracture further to propel an accomplished quintet of Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Jérome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun), Marc de Maar (United Healthcare), Pablo Urtasun and Samuel Sanchez (both Euskaltel-Euskadi) up the road.

As the peloton regrouped behind, the leaders would soon be joined by McLaughlin, Marcin Bialoblocki (Node4-Giordana), Jan Barta (NetApp), Jacek Morajko (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Bernard Sulzberger (Raleigh-GAC) to form the break of the day.

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In spite of disharmony provoked by the Czech Barta’s refusal to contribute to the pace-making, a sizeable four-minute advantage was established as the leaders approached the barren expanse of Dartmoor.

With Coppel beginning the day 4:16 down on the overall, the soon-to-merge Endura Racing and NetApp squads tapped away on the front of the peloton to keep matters under control on a gruelling day in the rolling Devon countryside.

The tempo in the bunch was enough to whittle the gap to McLaughlin & Co gradually downward as the finish at the south coast neared.

With the breakaway no longer a threat to the race lead, the Endura domestiques laid down their arms shortly before Tiernan-Locke put in an explosive dig on a steep drag to distance Howard for what seemed like the umpteenth time in this event.

Up front, McLaughlin ran out of legs and was no longer able to live with the pace as the big guns started to launch their attacks. The quartet of Sanchez, Urtasun, De Maar and Basso were strongest, pushing relentlessly onward over gruelling, lumpy roads on the outskirts of Dartmouth. Sanchez led out as the leaders plunged over the lightning-fast descent into town, and the former Olympic champion’s plan worked perfectly as teammate Urtasun out-kicked de Maar to take the win.

Leader Tiernan-Locke crossed the line in a group 47 seconds back, with Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) the only real general classification contenders in his company. The Devon native will be pleased to have extended his lead in his home county, and looks poised for overall glory tomorrow.

Pieter Ghyllebert, the An Post-Sean Kelly outfit’s hero of yesterday, arrived in the same group as teammate Gediminas Bagdonas, some 1:38 behind Urtasun. An Post’s Mark McNally was 43rd at 2:58, with McLaughlin 45th at 4:03. Belfast rider Peter Hawkins of IG-Sigma Sport was 64th at 8:53. Tomorrow will represent the Irish contingent’s final opportunity to seize some glory at what has been a thrilling Tour of Britain.

Stage 7: Barnstaple to Dartmouth 170km

Position	Rider	Team		Time
1	Pablo Urtasun	Euskaltel Euskadi		4h 20' 31''
2	Marc De Maar	UnitedHealthcare		st
3	Ivan Basso	Liquigas - Cannondale		st
4	Samuel Sanchez	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	0' 2''
5	Leopold Koenig	Team NetApp	at	0' 38''
6	Nathan Haas	Garmin - Sharp	at	0' 46''
7	Bernard Sulzberger	Raleigh - GAC		st
8	Jonathan Tiernan-Locke	Endura Racing		st
9	Bartosz Huzarski	Team NetApp		st
10	Damiano Caruso	Liquigas - Cannondale		st
11	Jacek Morajko	Vacansoleil - DCM		st
12	Josh Edmondson	Great Britain		st
13	David Lelay	Saur Sojasun		st
14	Pierre Cazaux	Euskaltel Euskadi		st
15	Jan Barta	Team NetApp		st
16	Jerome Coppel	Saur Sojasun	at	0' 51''
17	David Clarke	Node 4 - Giordana	at	1' 5''
18	Marcin Bialoblocki	Node 4 - Giordana	at	1' 21''
19	Luke Rowe	Sky Procycling	at	1' 23''
20	Paul Voss	Endura Racing	at	1' 25''
21	Christopher Jones	UnitedHealthcare		st
22	Adrian Saez de Arregui	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	1' 27''
23	Richard Lang	Rapha Condor	at	1' 38''
24	Wouter Sybrandy	IG - Sigma Sport		st
25	Leigh Howard	Orica - GreenEDGE		st
26	Niels Wytinck	An Post Sean Kelly		st
27	Liam Holohan	Raleigh - GAC		st
28	Christian Knees	Sky Procycling		st
29	Pieter Ghyllebert	An Post Sean Kelly		st
30	Wesley Kreder	Vacansoleil - DCM		st
31	Simon Yates	Great Britain		st
32	Peter Williams	Node 4 - Giordana		st
33	Yannick Talabardon	Saur Sojasun		st
34	Christopher Jennings	Rapha Condor		st
35	Gediminas Bagdonas	An Post Sean Kelly		st
36	Evan Oliphant	Raleigh - GAC	at	2' 19''
37	David McGowan	UK Youth Cycling	at	2' 26''
38	Christofer Stevenson	UK Youth Cycling	at	2' 45''
39	Boy Van Poppel	UnitedHealthcare	at	2' 50''
40	Cesare Benedetti	Team NetApp	at	2' 51''
41	Simon Richardson	IG - Sigma Sport	at	2' 54''
42	Ricardo Garcia	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	2' 57''
43	Mark McNally	An Post Sean Kelly	at	2' 58''
44	Jacob Rathe	Garmin - Sharp	at	3' 4''
45	Ronan Mclaughlin	An Post Sean Kelly	at	4' 3''
46	Yanto Barker	UK Youth Cycling		st
47	Jonny Clarke	UnitedHealthcare	at	4' 20''
48	Fabio Sabatini	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	6' 12''
49	Robert Förster	UnitedHealthcare		st
50	Matthias Krizek	Liquigas - Cannondale		st
51	Mathew Cronshaw	Node 4 - Giordana		st
52	Tom Last	IG - Sigma Sport		st
53	Steele Von Hoff	Garmin - Sharp		st
54	Ben Grenda	Rapha Condor		st
55	Jack Bobridge	Orica - GreenEDGE	at	6' 14''
56	Daniel Lloyd	IG - Sigma Sport	at	6' 16''
57	Kristian House	Rapha Condor	at	6' 22''
58	Alistair Slater	Great Britain	at	8' 33''
59	Owain Doull	Great Britain		st
60	Mark Cavendish	Sky Procycling	at	8' 53''
61	Magnus Backstedt	UK Youth Cycling		st
62	Jeremy Hunt	Sky Procycling		st
63	Niklas Gustavsson	UK Youth Cycling		st
64	Peter Hawkins	IG - Sigma Sport		st
65	Daniel Schorn	Team NetApp		st
66	Bernhard Eisel	Sky Procycling		st
67	Michael Cuming	Rapha Condor		st
68	Russell Downing	Endura Racing		st
69	Graham Briggs	Raleigh - GAC	at	10' 55''
70	Ian Bibby	Endura Racing		st
71	Lachlan Morton	Garmin - Sharp	at	11' 19''
72	Jonathan McEvoy	Endura Racing		st
73	Barry Markus	Vacansoleil - DCM	at	13' 8''
74	Sep Vanmarcke	Garmin - Sharp		st
75	Marco Benfatto	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	21' 47''
76	Tom Moses	Great Britain		st
77	Aidis Kruopis	Orica - GreenEDGE		st
78	George Atkins	Great Britain		st
79	Michael Hepburn	Orica - GreenEDGE		st
80	Dan Craven	IG - Sigma Sport	at	21' 57''

General Classification

Position	Rider	Team		Time
1	Jonathan Tiernan-Locke	Endura Racing		5h 38' 14''
2	Nathan Haas	Garmin - Sharp	at	0' 18''
3	Damiano Caruso	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	0' 23''
4	Leigh Howard	Orica - GreenEDGE	at	1' 2''
5	Christopher Jones	UnitedHealthcare	at	1' 12''
6	Bartosz Huzarski	Team NetApp	at	2' 1''
7	David Lelay	Saur Sojasun		st
8	Boy Van Poppel	UnitedHealthcare	at	2' 23''
9	Christian Knees	Sky Procycling	at	2' 26''
10	Jerome Coppel	Saur Sojasun	at	4' 21''
11	Leopold Koenig	Team NetApp	at	4' 52''
12	David Clarke	Node 4 - Giordana	at	4' 54''
13	Paul Voss	Endura Racing	at	5' 43''
14	Samuel Sanchez	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	5' 53''
15	Pierre Cazaux	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	6' 15''
16	Josh Edmondson	Great Britain		st
17	Jacek Morajko	Vacansoleil - DCM	at	6' 20''
18	Luke Rowe	Sky Procycling	at	7' 4''
19	Ivan Basso	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	7' 11''
20	Yannick Talabardon	Saur Sojasun	at	7' 37''
21	Yanto Barker	UK Youth Cycling	at	11' 10''
22	Richard Lang	Rapha Condor	at	12' 22''
23	Bernard Sulzberger	Raleigh - GAC	at	12' 58''
24	Jan Barta	Team NetApp	at	13' 2''
25	Marcin Bialoblocki	Node 4 - Giordana	at	13' 34''
26	Steele Von Hoff	Garmin - Sharp	at	13' 39''
27	Wouter Sybrandy	IG - Sigma Sport	at	13' 56''
28	Gediminas Bagdonas	An Post Sean Kelly	at	14' 26''
29	Marc De Maar	UnitedHealthcare	at	16' 25''
30	Evan Oliphant	Raleigh - GAC	at	16' 39''
31	Simon Richardson	IG - Sigma Sport	at	18' 2''
32	Magnus Backstedt	UK Youth Cycling	at	18' 20''
33	Liam Holohan	Raleigh - GAC	at	18' 33''
34	Peter Williams	Node 4 - Giordana	at	19' 25''
35	Russell Downing	Endura Racing	at	19' 36''
36	Sep Vanmarcke	Garmin - Sharp	at	20' 15''
37	Wesley Kreder	Vacansoleil - DCM	at	20' 28''
38	David McGowan	UK Youth Cycling	at	20' 32''
39	Daniel Schorn	Team NetApp	at	20' 36''
40	Ben Grenda	Rapha Condor	at	20' 44''
41	Adrian Saez de Arregui	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	21' 3''
42	Mark McNally	An Post Sean Kelly	at	21' 4''
43	Fabio Sabatini	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	21' 25''
44	Niels Wytinck	An Post Sean Kelly	at	21' 39''
45	Cesare Benedetti	Team NetApp	at	22' 13''
46	Matthias Krizek	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	22' 32''
47	Pieter Ghyllebert	An Post Sean Kelly	at	23' 12''
48	Christofer Stevenson	UK Youth Cycling	at	24' 57''
49	Ricardo Garcia	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	26' 14''
50	Pablo Urtasun	Euskaltel Euskadi	at	27' 41''
51	Mark Cavendish	Sky Procycling	at	27' 46''
52	Jacob Rathe	Garmin - Sharp	at	28' 13''
53	Mathew Cronshaw	Node 4 - Giordana	at	30' 15''
54	Jonny Clarke	UnitedHealthcare	at	31' 19''
55	Simon Yates	Great Britain	at	31' 27''
56	Jonathan McEvoy	Endura Racing	at	33' 26''
57	Kristian House	Rapha Condor	at	35' 19''
58	Alistair Slater	Great Britain	at	35' 54''
59	Jeremy Hunt	Sky Procycling	at	37' 9''
60	Robert Förster	UnitedHealthcare	at	37' 38''
61	Daniel Lloyd	IG - Sigma Sport	at	39' 28''
62	Dan Craven	IG - Sigma Sport	at	39' 32''
63	Christopher Jennings	Rapha Condor	at	40' 42''
64	Ian Bibby	Endura Racing	at	42' 59''
65	Graham Briggs	Raleigh - GAC	at	43' 28''
66	Peter Hawkins	IG - Sigma Sport	at	43' 49''
67	Bernhard Eisel	Sky Procycling	at	44' 11''
68	Ronan Mclaughlin	An Post Sean Kelly	at	46' 16''
69	Niklas Gustavsson	UK Youth Cycling	at	49' 3''
70	Tom Last	IG - Sigma Sport	at	49' 18''
71	Barry Markus	Vacansoleil - DCM	at	49' 37''
72	Owain Doull	Great Britain	at	51' 9''
73	Aidis Kruopis	Orica - GreenEDGE	at	52' 21''
74	Michael Cuming	Rapha Condor	at	53' 5''
75	Lachlan Morton	Garmin - Sharp	at	53' 39''
76	Tom Moses	Great Britain	at	1h 2' 37''
77	Jack Bobridge	Orica - GreenEDGE	at	1h 3' 51''
78	George Atkins	Great Britain	at	1h 6' 1''
79	Marco Benfatto	Liquigas - Cannondale	at	1h 7' 9''
80	Michael Hepburn	Orica - GreenEDGE	at	1h 18' 45''