Daire Feeley (Burren CC) made an incredible effort on the final stage of Rás Tailteann today to win the race again outright. However, while he was yellow jersey on the road for a long time into Bective, Co Meath, the British riders prevailed.
Josh Charlton of the Great Britain team, who had ridden every strongly all week, got away from one of the breakaways Feeley was in and put in a huge effort to TT his way to stage victory.
Behind him, it was all about whether Feeley could hold off the bunch, in the group he was in, and gain enough time to snatch the yellow jersey. Meanwhile, the man who lost yellow yesterday - Odhrán Doogan (Cycling Ulster) - was also on the attack, trying to get across to the Feely group.
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And so during the last two laps of the finishing circuit, the destination of the final yellow jersey was up for grabs. However, George Kimber (Isle of Man) had that jersey on his back and, because he is so strong, it was always going to take something really special to dislodge him.
In the end, a whittle down peloton caught Doogan and then the Feeley group on the last lap of the circuit, setting up a sprint for 2nd place behind stage winner Charlton. That sprint for the runner-up spot on the day went to John Buller, the Banbridge CC man and former national criterium champion.
The regrouping late in the stage, when the power of the bunch proved too much for the escapees on a windy day, played into the hands of the race leader; Kimber holding on to win the 2025 title after taking yellow when he won yesterday's stage into Mountrath.
Despite his solo chasing efforts late in the stage, Doogan still got up in the sprint for 2nd place, finishing 3rd on the stage.
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In the end, Kimber won the general classification after there was not major change during today's stage from Kildare Town for the circuits at Bective. He claimed that victory by five seconds from Jamie Meehan (Team Ireland), with Doogan 3rd at 22 seconds.
Meehan was hopeful of getting up the road today and taking back the five seconds he needed to win the race overall. However, a crash during today's stage was a blow to those chances.
Matteo Ciagala (Dan Morrissey Pissei) was 4th in the final general classification at 25 seconds followed by Sebastian Brenes (Canel's Java), at 28 seconds. Feeley was 6th at 33 seconds. Then came comeback man Matt Teggart of Banbridge CC placed 7th at 33 seconds.
Teggart, a former international who represented Ireland on the road at the Worlds and Europeans, showed he can still turn it on; proving a feature in the battle for the overall and stage honours even with a limited amount of racing under his belt in recent years.
Doogan won the 'county rider classification' and the points classification while Meehan was victorious in the 'young rider classification'. The mountains classification when to Adam Lewis of Team Skyline.
More to come.
George Kimber CC Isle of Man holds onto the yellow jersey to become the 2025 Rás Tailteann Champion pic.twitter.com/8NpYEjRrh9
— Rás Tailteann (@rastailteann) May 25, 2025
