Downey, Teggart best of Irish as Frenchman takes Rás stage

Downey, Teggart best of Irish as Frenchman takes Rás stage

Matt Teggart and Mark Downey were best of the Irish into Donegal but Yannis Yassad, above, claimed stage victory (Photo: Morgan Treacy - Inpho)

By Brian Canty

James Gullet has retained his lead at the top of the General Classification at the An Post Rás after another truly breathless stage of the race this afternoon.

Though it was ‘only’ 132 kilometres, there were huge time gaps once again.

And the man who they must all beat is, 1’05” clear of his closest challenger, Ike Groen (Delta Cycling).

Yannis Yssaad (Armee de Terre) won the stage after he beat Sunday’s stage winner Nicolai Brochner Nielsen (Riwal Platform Cycling) and Dennis Bakker (delta Cycling) in a closely-contested sprint.

But the day belonged to Gullen who has just two stages to hold the jersey.

There’s still a huge amount of racing left, of course, and if the race has proven anything so far it’s that nothing is certain.

Gullen is proving a very tough nut to crack, though, and he resisted attack after attack on today’s stage.

Cameron Meyer of the Australian national team was just one of those who put him under intense pressure but not even a man of his talent could shake Gullen, a stage winner from 12 months ago.

Meyer is still third on General Classification at two and a half minutes.

Best of the Irish on the stage was Tuesday’s stage winner and former yellow jersey wearer Matt Teggart (An Post Chain Reaction).

He crossed the line in eighth while in the same time a further place back was Mark Downey of the Irish national team.

Damien Shaw is still the best-placed Irish rider on GC, though he is still 4’32” seconds down going into the final two stages.

Philip Lavery (Carrick Wheelers, Panduit) continued his good week by being the first county rider across the line.

Stage 6: Dungloe – Donegal (132.1km)

1 Yannis Yssaad (France Arme de Terre) 3:19:21
2 Nicolai Nielsen (Denmark Riwal Platform Cycling)
3 Dennis Bakker (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
4 Daan Meijers (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
5 Stephane Poulhies (France Armee de Terre)
6 Cameron Meyer (Australia National Team)
7 Matthew Teggart (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction)
8 Mark Downey (Ireland National Team)
9 Mitchell Mulhern (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
10 Dexter Gardias (Britain Bike Channel Canyon) all same time

General Classification

1 James Gullen (Britain JLT Condor) 20 hours 27 mins 11 secs
2 Ike Groen (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) at 1 min 5 secs
3 Cameron Meyer (Australia National Team) at 2 mins 35
4 Troels Ronning Vinther (Denmark Riwal Platform Cycling) at 4 mins 32
5 Damien Shaw (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) same time
6 Morgan Kneisky (France Armee de Terre) at 5 mins 34 secs
7 Stephane Poulhies (France Armee de Terre) at 5 mins 49 secs
8 Thomas Rostollon (France Armee de Terre) at 7 mins 10 secs
9 Michael O’Loughlin (Britain Team Wiggins) at 7 mins 13 secs
10 Daan Meijers (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) at 8 mins 30 secs

Points Classification

1 Dennis Bakker (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) 49 pts
2 Daan Meijers (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) 44
3 Stephane Poulhies (France Armee de Terre) 41

Mountains Classification

1 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) 59
2 Michael Storer (Australia National Team) 40 pts
3 Dexter Gardias (Britain Bike Channel Canyon) 27

County Classification

1 Daire Feeley (Galway Team iTap) 20 hours 37 mins 29 secs
2 Philip Lavery (Tipperary Panduit) at 4 mins 40 secs
3 Christopher McGlinchey (Cycling Ulster) at 4 mins 48 secs

U23 Classification

1 Michael O’Loughlin (Britain Team Wiggins) 20 hours 34 mins 24 sec
2 Regan Gough (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) at 1 min 48 secs
3 Matthew Teggart (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) at 2 mins 3 secs