Feeley makes strong move but McGlinchey holds yellow in Limerick

*Daire Feeley leads Conor McCann and Joel Luke in the winning breakaway today on stage 1 of the A1-A2 Newcastle West Stage Race, promoted by Newcastle West Wheelers (Photo by Eamon Doody)*

Daire Feeley has taken victory on the opening road stage of the A1-A2 Newcastle West Stage Race, but with two stages remaining it's yesterday's TT winner Chris McGlinchey who still holds the yellow jersey.

With the race leader riding for Cycling Ulster this weekend, and an Irish national U23 team also in the race, there was significant firepower in the peloton when eventual stage winner Feeley took flight in a breakaway.

The All human-VeloRevolution rider, who has picked off win after win in recent years, attacked just over 10km into the 150km stage. He was in good company in the shape of Conor McCann (Caldwell Cycles) and Joel Luke (UCD Cycling Club).

While they put their heads down immediately, they still had 5½ laps of the 25km circuit ahead of them. And with an Ulster selection back in the bunch defending McGlinchey's yellow jersey and the Irish national team having missed the move, the smart money was on the trio out front being caught.

*McGlinchey in yellow during today's stage 1 after he won the opening prologue TT yesterday (Photo by Eamon Doody)*

When the leaders never managed to get their advantage over two minutes, the odds looked stacked against them. But as the kilometres ticked by, the leaders continued to work well and hold off the chase behind.

Related News

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains

Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT

Up front Luke and McCann eventually paid for their efforts when Feeley managed to get away from them on the final lap, with the bunch breathing down their necks at that point.

And as Luke and McCann were caught by the remains of the bunch, the gap to Feeley narrowed right down, though he survived to take victory by just 17 seconds.

Shay Donley (Dan Morrissey-MIG-Pactimo) took the sprint for 2nd place back in the bunch, with John Buller (U23 National Development Team) in 3rd, Conor Murnane (UCD Cycling Club) 4th and Richie Maes (All human-VeloRevolution) placing 5th.

McGlinchey was 8th and holds his yellow jersey; still
leading by eight seconds from Aaron Wade (U23 National Development Team). Liam Curley
(Spellman-Dublin Port) is in 3rd at nine seconds and Gareth O’Neill (Caldwell
Cycles) is 4th at 18 seconds.

Feeley is now up to 5th overall at 20 seconds and based on the evidence so far he can pose a big threat in the battle for the overall. However, McGlinchey is no stranger to winning stage races, with Rás Mumhan just one of the wins in his palmares.

And with the top 20 overall still covered by less than
one minute, the race for the final yellow jersey is still wide open with two
hard stages to come.