By Shane Stokes
Daire Feeley became the first rider on this year’s Rás Tailteann to retain the race leader’s yellow jersey, doing so on a flat, fast 154.1 kilometre stage from Lisdoonvarna to Kilbeggan on Saturday. Pushed on at times by a tailwind, the riders set a ferocious pace and according to the official results, averaged 47.72 kilometres per hour.
Feeley was visibly relieved at the finish, knowing that in holding yellow he had overcome a big hurdle and moved an important step closer to winning the race outright.
“Today will be the fastest stage of the race,” he said, looking at his bike computer soon after the finish. “It seemed like we had a tailwind for most of the day. We averaged 47 kilometres an hour for 157 kilometres, so it shows how fast we were going.
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“To be honest with you, only for the lads keeping it together today, following the moves and things like that, it would have been a different finish. But teams wanted a bunch sprint coming into the line, so we are happy it went that way.”
The stage was marked by a number of attacks, with Feeley’s rivals keen to try to find and exploit any weaknesses. However he and his Cork All Human/Velo Revolution team proved equal to the challenge and with other squads such as the Ireland National Team also riding in order to set up a bunch finish, things worked out well for the race leader.
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Did he have any concerning moments?
“One or two times, but we closed things down quick,” he said. “We didn’t let it get out of hand. As I said before, the team I have around me are just super strong, so it is all good.”
Feeley believed that the wind direction helped in a way, making it more straightforward to contain attacks.
“The tailwind encourages fast racing,” he said. “I think if it was a headwind it is harder to close the gaps. All you need to do is just keep riding through and you can close the gaps much easier. So it certainly did help.”
Feeley is now one day away from becoming the first Irish rider since Stephen Gallagher in 2008 to win the Rás Tailteann. There has been a 14 year wait for the next Irish champion and the excitement and pressure of yellow has already had an effect.
“I struggled to get to sleep last night so hopefully I can get a bit of sleep tonight,” he said. “Just the thoughts of it…it is getting closer and closer. We will do what we can. We will give it absolutely everything. I’m super chuffed with today, so we will take it day by day. One more day.”
