1. Willem O'Connor's very strong day
The first-year U23 rider, still just 18-years-old, took 2nd on today's stage 1B after a very strong ride. His Velo Performance team was also 5th in today's TTT, just 17 seconds down, which was a very solid performance. And those two results combine to leave young O'Connor 3rd overall. He is seven seconds down on race leader Jamie Whitcher (Composite Black). That's a great return after a day when many of the fancied young guns - both first-year U23s and juniors - shed minutes.
A strong junior last year, O'Connor spent much of his time racing abroad, perhaps under the radar, and has done much the same this season with Velo Performance; a new U23 Irish development team. His recent ride in Rás Mhaigh Eo proved he was going well, riding to 6th overall after being in the top 10 on all stages. But today's 2nd place is his best result on home roads - by far - and made for a very promising day out for the teenager.
Advertisement
2. Gran Fondo foundation strikes again
Matteo Cigala, an Italian living for years in Ireland and a former Italian junior road international, has busied himself in recent years riding, and winning, European Gran Fondos. He's taken several victories on the international Gran Fondo scene this year and popped up for a brilliant victory on stage 1b this evening at Rás Mumhan, eight years after winning the final stage of the race.
A few weeks ago, stickybotlte revealed his partner Marine Lenehan - a Grand Fondo European and world champion - had secured a stagiaire with Lidl-Trek for later in the season. Clearly these Gran Fondos are much harder than some in the road racing community give them credit for!
3. Strong international challenge
After two stages - still early days - the foreign riders occupy most of the places in the top 10 overall, thanks mainly to the stage 1A TTT win for the Composite Black team; all international riders except for Ireland's Rás Tailteann stage winner Kevin McCambridge. British rider Jamie Whitcher (20) now leads overall from compatriot Harold Evans, a 37-year-old top gravel rider who also mixes it on the road, with Irish U23 O'Connor in 3rd, also at seven seconds.
Related News
Spellman Dublin Port did a great ride in the TTT, to take 2nd place at 5 seconds - with Irish riders Mitchell McLaughlin, Darragh McCarter and David Montgomery in the team. And Caldwell Cycles were 3rd, at 14 seconds, with an all Irish line-up; Darnell Moore (who crashed in the evening stage), Odhran Doogan, Curtis Neill, Travis Harkness and Lindsay Watson. However, after today's action seven of the top 10 overall are from overseas; an early indication we have some strong visitors in this field. Tomorrow's queen stage will give a truer indication of the balance of power.
4. Niall McLoughlin powers back
McLoughlin was a super junior, winning a stage at Rás Mumhan as a second-year junior in 2022 before starting his first year as an U23 very strongly in 2023 with a win at Phoenix GP. Then the Leaving Cert put a hole in his season. Though he hoped for much from last year, a prolonged illness sidelined him, with his season ending after the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend.
He, like the aforementioned O'Connor, rode well at Rás Mhaigh Eo last month, taking 13th overall. But his 3rd place on today's stage suggests a return to the kind of form we know he can produce. It will hopefully prove the curtain-raiser to a smoother, more successful, run this year.
5. Significant gaps already
We have a long way to go yet on this race. Tomorrow's stage 2, for example, is 122km from Killarney to Portmagee with six categorised climbs, including Coomanaspig after 91km. There will be bodies everywhere.
However, the TTT served up some modest time gaps today, added to when the reduced bunch split a little in the final uphill sprint on stage 1B, after a very wet day of hard racing. And some fancied riders have already lost time. Most haven't shed buckets of time, but there are losses that will be challenging to reverse.
Ruairi Byrne (UCD CC) is one of the fancied riders this weekend and though he is in 18th overall, and still well in touch to win it, even he has lost 26 seconds. Conal Scully (Dan Morrissey Pissei) is 30 seconds down, with Daire Feeley (Burren CC) at 35 seconds and Liam Crowley (Munster Dornan) at 36 seconds, though he has the climbers' jersey. Rás Tailteann champion, Dom Jackson (Foran CC) is in 31st, and already 39 seconds down. Tomorrow will put real order on the general classification, but many riders have more work to do already than they would have wanted.
