By Shane Stokes
Stage winner and new yellow jersey on stage two, now sitting second overall at 51 seconds since stage three, Louis Sutton is determined to do what he can to win the Rás Tailteann on today’s final stage.
The British rider with the Spain Brocar-Alé team had hoped to defend his lead on Friday and, once yellow was captured by Daire Feeley, had aimed to take it back on yesterday’s stage to Kilbeggan. However a strong tailwind made decisive attacks hard to achieve, as did the work of Feeley and his Cork All Human/Velo Revolution team.
“Stage three, the break got away. We just tried to limit as much losses as possible, really, and managed to be 51 seconds behind on GC. But still second, which isn’t the worst.
Advertisement
“Yesterday I tried to get away but it was too far for anything to go. So we just waited and spared ourselves for today, which will be the final fight.”
It’s not unheard of for the lead to change on the final stage—indeed, that’s what happened the last time the Rás was held in 2018—but surmounting a 51 second gap will be complicated, not least because of the flat route. But he’s by no means giving up.
“Anything can happen, it’s the Rás,” he said. “We will see. The final crit is very technical and I think you can get time there. We will just see how it goes. Their team is clearly very strong. Daire wants to keep his jersey as much as anything, so everyone will be trying their hardest. But we will try, there is no point in just giving up and taking second.”
Related News
But if he ends up second, would that have exceeded his pre-race expectations?
“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “I didn’t really come here with much expectations, because I didn’t know where I would be in this racing scene as I am used to a lot different in Spain. I’ll be happy with whatever, really.”
Ideally Sutton would have preferred a hillier route. He showed his uphill ability on stage two, being part of the day’s key move and then pressing ahead with Feeley plus the Britons Michael Chadwick (Britain Embark-Bikestrong) and William Perrett (Dublin Spellman Port).
He then dropped the others on the steep Crags Cave climb with seven kilometres to go, showing how strong a climber he is.
“It was a really hard grippy day,” Sutton said. “I managed to clip away on the final climb. It was really hard. I just sat on the front and just tried to keep a good pace. I'm used to climbing quite a lot, racing in Spain, so it's easier for me there then on the flat.”
Since then the race has been much flatter, something which has limited his options somewhat.
“It would have been a lot better for me if the route was a lot more hilly and being able to get more gaps and show where our team is really stronger,” he said.
“But the race has been really fun, obviously. The fans and everything. The roads, and the peloton. I have found it really fun. It’s so different to what I am used to in Spain…I have enjoyed it a lot.”
