Conor Dooney (Foyle CC) and Conor Murphy (Caldwell Cycles) have traded the yellow jersey at Gorey Three Day today on what was an historic day for the event. Marine Lenehan (Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei) became the first ever female rider to win a stage in the Easter stage race.
Lenehan, the European Gran Fondo champion, was among the group of women given a 15-minute handicap on this morning's stage 2 and she just about managed to hang on out front to win.
She crossed the line four seconds clear of Ryan Oldfield, the Halesowen A & CC rider who shot from the breakaway to win the men's stage; doing so in some style on the 3km White Heaps climb to the chequered flag.
Just behind him - nine seconds to be precise - came Foyle's Dooney. And that meant the Derry rider achieved the incredible task of taking yellow from Murphy, though the junior had led the general classification by over two minutes at the start of the day.
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However, in the evening TT it was Murphy who was again on top, winning the race against the clock, and adding that to his brilliant win on yesterday's stage 1. And with it, Murphy went back into the yellow jersey.
The 2.47km on Sunday evening was won by Murphy - a first-year junior - in a time of 3:25, some nine seconds up on stage 2 winner Oldfield. Killian O'Brien completed a junior top three in the TT; the Cycling Leinster rider finishing at 10 seconds.
Indeed, the top five on the TT stage were juniors as Patrick O'Sullivan (Cycling Leinster) and Luke Mannings (Halesowen A & CC) were 4th and 5th, both also at 10 seconds.
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The man who led the race into the TT, Dooney, rode well again; placing 8th and relinquishing just 14 seconds to young Murphy. That mean the top two slots in the overall switched. The seven-second lead Dooney had over Murphy going into the TT was reversed. Murphy now leads and has a seven second advantage over Dooney, who is 2nd overall with one stage remaining.
In the women's race, the star of this morning's road stage, Lenehan, extended her overall lead in the time trial this evening in Gorey. She was best-placed woman in the test, finishing 29th on the stage, some 32 seconds down on Conor Murphy.
Annalise Murphy (Longcourt Hotel NCW Wheelers), who won last Sunday's Des Hanlon Memorial and as very aggressive on stag 2 today, was 2nd in the women's TT this evening, some nine seconds down in Lenehan.
Aoife O'Brien (Belco Van Eyck) rounded out the women's TT podium, some 14 seconds down on Lenehan.
And after three stages, Lenehan leads the women's classification by 37 seconds from Annalise Murphy with Tuva Mauland (Brother UK Cycling Team On-Form) and Sian Botteley (Brother UK-DAS Handsling) 3rd and 4th at 51 seconds and 1:24 respectively.
Then comes Aliyah Doherty (Tofuati Everyone Active), who is 5th in the women's classification and leading junior, some 1:32 down.
In the men's overall, with just one stage come, Murphy leads Dooney by seven seconds with Oldfield in 3rd, at 44 seconds. The gaps are then bigger - but no unassailable judging by the racing so far - as Mark Donnelly-Orr of Lucan CRC, a club that knows how to win on the Gorey, is 4th overall at 1:41.
Then comes Matthew Walls of Cycling Leinster, in 5th at 2:08, followed by 6th placed Quillen Donnelly (Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei) at 2:23.
