Mia Griffin, now back racing on the road with DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK after competing on the track at the Olympics, has continued her impressive run at Rás na mBan by winning stage 3 on Friday to Gorey.
The Kilkenny woman was adding to the stage win she took on Wednesday into Callan and also the 2nd place she took into Mountrath on Thursday while her team holds all the jerseys and leads the team classification.
Griffin went into today's stage leading the general classification but equal on time with team mate, and stage 2 winner, Caoimhe O'Brien. However, due to time bonuses today - three seconds at an intermediate sprint and 10 seconds for the stage win - Griffin now leads O'Brien by 12 seconds.
That gives her a decent cushion at the top of the standings but with three stages to come, including a short Sunday morning TT, the race for overall victory is far from over, though it looks like it will take something special to challenge Griffin and her team.
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Today, the group that contested the finish after 104km of racing, was much bigger than the 23-rider reduced bunch that arrived in Mountrath yesterday. Just over 40 riders were present, with Griffin having too much speed in the final dash to the line for runner-up Heidi Franz, and American riding for Monarch Racing.
Dutch rider Noor Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy) was 3rd, with young Aoife O'Brien of Team Ireland placing 4th and Marine Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) from Caoimhe O'Brien (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK).
Other Irish riders who made it in the front group today included: Ellen McDermott (UCD Cycling Club) in 18th and Gabrielle Fox (Greenmount CA) in 22nd. Worlds-bound juniors Aine Doherty (Team Ireland), Aliyah Rafferty (Team Ireland) and Lucy Bénézet Minns (Team Ireland) were also in the front group, as was Grace Reynolds (Brother UK-OnForm).
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That group gained 3:15 on the next large group to finish after a day of racing when breakaways were closed down but there was plenty of splits, with many of those dropped never getting back on again.
The real damage was done today on the 3.3km cat 2 Sliabh Buí climb, crested about 25km from the finish. By the time they raced over the summit, a front group of about 25 had formed at the front, being chased by 15 at about 40 seconds.
With something of a regrouping taking place just after the climb, two riders were on the move off the front before the start of the 1.1km cat 3 Ballymore climb, now deep inside the final 20km of the race.
That duo - Frankie Hall (DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK) and Jazmine Lavergne (Primeau Vélo) - stretched their advantage to one minute quite quickly. However, by the time they crested the climb, with just 12km to go, that lead have halved after Team Ireland had been active on the climb.
Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei and Team Ireland taking up the chase - trying to bring it together for their sprinters O'Brien and Lenehan - the leaders were gradually reeled in before being caught about 5km from the finish.
Though there was a crash in the front group approaching the finish, the pressure applied by DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK ensured it came down to a gallop, won again by Griffin.
She now leads overall from Caoimhe O'Brien, by 12 seconds, with Robyn Clay 3rd at 23 seconds, making it a 1-2-3, so far, in the overall for Das Hutchinson Brother UK.
Griffin also leads the points classification while Lucy Lee of Das Hutchinson Brother UK is best climber so far. Caoimhe O'Brien leads the young rider classification while Griffin leads the 'Irish rider' classification and Das Hutchinson Brother UK heads the team classification.
