One of the most popular riders in Irish cycling, Dillon Corkery has dominated the final stage of Rás Tailteann to capture overall victory on the streets of Blackrock, Co Louth, today. Having told stickybottle he remained focused on taking the yellow jersey today, that's exactly what he did.
He got up the road in a strongman's breakaway which gained almost three minutes on the peloton, containing race leader Conor McGoldrick (UK Richardsons Trek DAS). In recent days, McGoldrick's team has gone to the front of the peloton and proven strong enough to catch the breakaways and defend yellow.
And just as it looked like they would do the same today, and the gap to the breakaway began tumbling, Corkery got clear of that front group with four others. The Cork rider drove the pace and the five men started to pull out the gap again.
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US-based Irish rider Cormac Mcgeough (Good Guys Racing NYC) was the best placed rider overall in the initial breakaway, starting the day in 4th at 14 seconds. Corkery, yesterday's stage winner, was next best overall of the orginal breakaway; 7th at 19 seconds.
However, when the breakaway split and Corkery went forward with four other riders, Mcgeough missed the boat. That meant Corkery was the best-placed rider of the small leading group, leaving him free to drive on in the knowledge if they stayed away he would win the race overall.
In that group with him were: Finn Crockett (Foyle CC) double stage winner Matthew Fox (UK: Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli), Jack Crook (UK: Richardsons Trek DAS) and Ben Chilton (Halesowen A&CC-Mapei).
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Those five made for a very strong unit and stayed clear, with Crockett winning the stage and Corkery taking the yellow jersey, sealing overall victory for 2023. The Irishman rolled in at the back of the breakaway, last of them over the line, but celebrating his overall win, making for brilliant scenes in Blackrock.
In the end, Crockett won the stage in a sprint from Crook, Fox and Chilton in that order; all four on the same time. Corkery came over the line celebrating wildly, in 5th place and at three seconds.
And then came a gap of 2:20 to a four-man chasing group. JB Murphy (Cycling Leinster) took the sprint for 6th from Lindsay Watson (Cycling Ulster), Tom Martin (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) and Cormac Mcgeough (Good Guys Racing NYC).
The next rider to finish, and round out the top 10, was Leo Doyle (ARBO Headstart ONFahrrad), at 2:39. Doyle led in the remains of the bunch, numbering 60 riders and including yellow jersey McGoldrick. Those time gaps meant Corkery won overall by 2:12 from Mcgeough, who rode a great Rás, with McGoldrick slipping to 3rd at 2:17.
More to come.
