Damien Shaw has taken victory in the opening stage of Kerry Group Rás Mumhan this evening
Damien Shaw (AquaBlue) has taken the biggest win of his career after claiming the opening stage and the first leaders’ yellow jersey of this year’s Kerry Group Rás Mumhan.
The strongman from Mullingar was the main animator of today’s stage, taking a number of KOH primes and being the last to bridge across to the breakaway of nine riders. He then attacked the remains of that group in the closing miles and rode away on his own into the finish in Killorglin to take the stage after 110km.
The main breakaway consisted of: Silvan Buis (West Fresia), Michael Fitzgerald (Fermoy CC), Nick Pilborough (SpinRotor-Primaleurope), Joe Fenlon (AquaBlue), Matthew Higgins (Felt Colborne Hargroves), Simon Ryan (Visit Nenagh), Mike Ashurst (Biketreks), Damien Shaw (AquaBlue).
Advertisement
Ryan Mullen of IG Sigma Sport but riding on the Ireland U23 Team was also in the escape but he lost his place, after apparently suffering a mechanical problem.
Shaw was active from very early, going off the front a number of times and taking the first KOH prime of the day before making it into the escape which was formed around 35km into the action. After 16km up the road, some hard riding by the breakaway had pulled the gap out to around 45 seconds even though there was plenty of activity behind as the bunch tried to close down the move.
Related News
A number of chase groups got clear of the bunch in a bid to bridge across, with one dangerous looking move featuring Charles Prendergast (Western Lakes CC), last weekend’s Des Hanlon winner in Carlow Sean Lacey (AquaBlue), last year’s Rás Mumhan opening stage winner Paidi O’Brien (Planet Tri) and George Harper (Felt Colborne Hargroves). However, they did not manage to get across.
Shaw took the second KOH and briefly went clear of the lead group but was brought back and then Pilborough was to lose his place as the gap hovered at around 1:40 back to the bunch for long periods.
However, with 10km remaining that had pulled out to 1:50 on the bunch as a chase group formed that included Irish riders Sean Lacey, Barry Twohig and around seven others.
Up ahead Matthew Higgins attacked the breakaway and then Shaw, as Ryan looked in trouble and was falling off the back of the escape.
Shaw got a gap and pressed for home inside the last 5km. With a tailwind into the finish, Shaw put his head down and with 2km remaining he had pulled the gap out to what looked like a stage-winning margin of 15 seconds and continued to edge it out slightly on the five remaining in the breakaway chasing him.
He held on for a great victory, with Buis in second place, Fenlon third and Ashurst fourth.
More later.
Topics
