By Shane Stokes
Having raised his game last autumn to beat
WorldTour professionals and take second in the Irish national road race
championships, Daire Feeley was once again fired up on the big stage on
Thursday’s second stage of the Rás Tailteann.
The Cork All Human/VeloRevolution rider was one of
the most aggressive during the race to Castleisland, eventually finishing sixth
on the stage and jumping up to eighth overall.
The end result does not give the full picture,
however. He was active right from the early minutes, clipping away
approximately 15 kilometres into the stage with Kevin McCambridge (Trinity
Racing) and Mark Shannon (Clare Burren CC) and then, following their recapture,
trying again before the midway point.
He got across to a leading group and then pressed ahead inside the final hour of racing, ultimately hitting the slopes of the steep Crags Cave with three British riders, Louis Sutton (Spain Brocar Ale), William Perrett (Dublin Spellman Port) and Michael Chadwick (Britain Embark-Bikestrong).
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It was a determined display and showed that he is not intimidated by the strong field. However he was left frustrated afterwards, believing that the general classification could have been impacted in a much bigger way had the group fully committed.
“A small group of roughly eight to twelve riders
got away initially, and then the bunch started looking at themselves for a
bit,” he told stickybottle, explaining how things played out after his earlier recapture.
“Attacks started going and a group went. I was just looking at the riders who
were going in it. I could see all the teams were represented so I jumped across
with them.
“We got a good gap but once we got up to the
leaders, we didn’t really ride. We could have put five or six minutes into them
if we actually rode. We were freewheeling riding through nearly at times. It
was a pity because it was one of those days that if the group up front did
commit it could have decided the GC.
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“But at the end of the day I was actually happy
that I was in that group because that climb we went over towards the finish was
very, very steep and I don’t think I would have made it over it if I was still
in the bunch with the likes of Teggart and stuff like that. So it gave me a head
start, I suppose you could say. But look, I can’t complain.
“A lot of energy used today but tomorrow is a new
day so we will see what we can do, so we will.”
Friday’s stage to Lisdoonvarna is the longest in the race at 172 kilometres. He’s not quite sure how it will play out but suggested he will play things tactically in a bid to gain time prior to the finale.
“The third stage tomorrow was initially the stage
of concern for me. After today it might be different,” he said. “There are a
lot of hard roads around the Burren, and especially the lead up to Corkscrew
Hill. I think the roads into the main climb tomorrow are actually harder than the
climb itself. So that can do a lot of damage.
“But look, ideally we will limit our losses on the
steeper climbs. I am a bit too heavy, I am not the best against the lighter
guys. So if we can slip up the road in an easy move before it or something like
that, we will see what we can do for the remainder of the race.”
Just as with the nationals last year when he spoke
about his firm belief prior to the race that he had it in him to win it, he is
aiming big in the Rás Tailteann.
“From winning races over the past number of years I
think third, fourth, fifth is not really a result that you can brag about,” he
said. “I think you dream about winning the race overall, but it is not as
easily done as it looks from the outside. The goal is to win the race, but we
will see how it goes.
“Teggart is very, very strong. They way he rode
across to us on the climb today was very impressive. So if he is able to
maintain that form throughout the remainder of the race he is going to be a
force to be reckoned with. But we will see what we can do and take it day by
day.”
