Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing) and Jamie Meehan (Cycling Ulster) came up together through VC Glendale and were also team mates at Spellman Dublin Port and today they proved the strongest on Kerryman's Table after a fantastic stage 3 at Dornan Rás Mumhan.
The two Ulster riders sprang from the quality four-man move that pulled away in the final - after a great team ride by Trinity Racing - with Harvey getting the better of U23 Irish road race champion Meehan to take the stage victory.
Not present in that front group were two of the men of the stage today; former Irish elite TT champion Conn McDunphy (Team Skyline Cadence), and stage 1b winner, George Kimber (Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling).
That duo threw to caution to the wind with a really impressive two-man attack up and over the climb of Kilmeedy, the cat 1 which began about 70km into the 115km stage from Millstreet to the Kerryman's Table climb. That duo had a gap of 40 seconds in no time as the field disintegrated behind them.
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Stage 3, a day for warriors #RásMumhan #RásMumhan24 pic.twitter.com/BE1BS78sAZ
— Rás Mumhan (@Rasmumhan) March 31, 2024
However, with Trinity Racing fielding a strong team this weekend - not to mention having the yellow jersey on the shoulders of Australian teenager Luke Tuckwell - they took on responsibility for much of the chasing.
McDunphy - who started the day 4th overall at 41 seconds - and Kimber were very impressive out front, with their all-out attack. But they could never pull out the kind of gap they needed to get over the remaining climbs, and to the finish line, still clear of what remained of the peloton.
Their advantage remained stubbornly between 40 and 50 seconds as Trinity Racing continued in the chase behind. McDunphy, in polka dots today, was briefly virtual yellow jersey and he also took the points at the top of the penultimate climb; the cat 1 Mushera with just under 90km completed.
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However, by the time the leaders raced through the 5km to go banner their advantage was down to below 20 seconds. And with the final climb to come to the line - and with Trinity Racing looking determined on the front of the 40-strong bunch - McDunphy and Kimber were really up against it.
Once the road properly kicked up on the final climb, the remains of the bunch blew apart, with McDunphy and Kimber overhauled. Four men then took the lead; Harvey and Tuckwell for Trinity Racing, Meehan for Cycling Ulster and last year's stage 3 winner Dominic Jackson of Foran CT.
And that's how it stayed until the finish came into sight; Harvey and Meehan having the most poke of the four leaders and finishing 1st and 2nd, on the same time - 2hrs 47mins 41secs.
Tuckwell - defending his race lead very well - was 3rd at 9 seconds, while Jackson took 4th, at 11 seconds. And then came the first group on the road, finishing some 32 seconds down on the stage winner and led home by Corrin Leeming of Isle of Man CC.
Irish U23 international Odhran Doogan (Caldwell Cycles) was next, in 6th place. Charlie Genner of UK team Halesowen Academy-Mapei was also in that group, in 7th, as were Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles) and Sam Coleman of Cycling Ireland Juniors.
A2 classification leader Curtis Neill (Caldwell Cycles) was next to finish, in 10th place and at 32 seconds. He was followed by Joseph Mullen of Cycling Ireland Juniors; a great ride by him to take 11th on the queen stage, at 40 seconds.
After his breakaway efforts, McDunphy finished back in 20th place at 1:01, with yesterday's stage 2 winner, Daire Feeley of All human-VeloRevolution, was in 13th at 43 seconds.
The stage results saw Tuckwell keep his race leader's jersey ahead of the big finale into Killorglin on Monday. From Orange in New South Wales, he holds a 38 seconds lead over Jackson, with Tom Martin of All human-VeloRevolution in 3rd place overall at 51 seconds.
Stage winner Harvey moved up three places today. And though he also gained some time in the final kick to the line, he is still 1:04 off the yellow jersey, sitting in 4th. Feeley is 5th at 1:28, with Meehan and McDunphy 6th and 7th, both at 1:34.
Seth Dunwoody (Cycling Ireland Juniors) still holds the junior classification lead and he is also 11th overall - at 2:54 - just one place and 13 seconds ahead of his team mate Coleman. Tuckwell leads the points classification from Harvey while McDunphy has the climbers jersey, with Harvey also 2nd in that classification.
