In scenes you won't see too often, and which we don't recall ever happening at the Rás, when the race was over today nobody knew who had won the over title. The riders, above, went to the podium to wait for the verdict to be handed down. And when it was, Cyrille Thiery of Switzerland has lost his yellow jersey by one second to Luuc Bugter of Delta Cycling (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)
By Graham Gillespie
Luuc Bugter of Delta Cycling has won this year’s Rás by the narrowest of margins after an amazing finish in Skerries.
The Dutchman claimed the yellow jersey, finishing only one second ahead of Cyrille Thiery of Switzerland.
Thiery had won stage 1 and held the race lead all the way only to lose it at the death.
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And when it was over this afternoon the riders went to the podium to wait for the time keepers to tell them who had won the Rás.
Bugter attacked today with about five kilometres to go alongside teammate Sjoerd Bax and Robbe Ghys (Belgium).
Thiery tried to respond but in the end, he would finish 12 seconds behind Bugter on the stage.
That was enough to overturn Thiery’s 11-second overnight lead and give Bugter the yellow jersey.
This also completed a double for the 24-year-old as he also won the green jersey for the points classification.
Meanwhile, white jersey winner Ghys who took the stage win. Ghys also took the final place on the podium in the general classification, finishing just two seconds behind the winner.
Holdsworth’s Damien Shaw finished fourth overall and was the highest placed Irishman in this year’s Rás.
Potts leads the breakaway which would be caught. But after a Dutch-Belgian raid late in the stage Robbe Ghys, the U23 winner from Belgium, won the stage and jumped to 3rd overall, at the expense of Ireland's Damien Shaw who was pushed into 4th place. And points leader Luuc Bugter was also in the escape, placing 2nd on the stage and winning the green jersey classification and the final yellow jersey.
The other jerseys did not change hands today as Mark Dowling of Leinster won the county jersey, and Lukas Ruegg (Switzerland) was top of the KOM classification.
Robert John McCarthy (Ireland) finished fourth on today’s final stage; winning the sprint behind the three leaders.
Three county riders were also in the top ten as Matteo Cigala (Viner-Caremack-Pactimo), Lindsay Watson (Antrim Velo Café Magasin) and Richard Maes (Killarney) were sixth, seventh and tenth respectively.
How stage 8 of the Rás unfolded
As has been the tradition in recent years, the Rás ended in Skerries today. The Black Hills were climbed twice towards the end of the stage, but it was after these climbs that this year's yellow jersey was won and lost.
There were also three other ascents at the Hill of Allen, Pluckhimin and the Cross of the Cage before the race reached the final circuit.
The stage began with an attack from Irish riders Marc Potts (Ireland), Fintan Ryan (Leinster) and Philip Lavery (Strata3-VeloRevolution).
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KTM’s Fraser Rounds and Holdsworth’s Russ Downing also went with this trio.
And Curtis White of Jelly Belly would join the group before the first KOM of the day at the Hill of Allen. White secured maximum points on this climb beating Potts and Lavery.
Robbie McCarthy takes 4th today. He won a stage but mishaps meant we didn't see the best of him on this Rás. Bugter wearing yellow the only time it truly matters, immediately after the final stage. Thiery had worn it all week; from the end of stage 1 until the start of today's final leg. Mark Dowling on the podium; a mark of his class the fact he has had an anonymous campaign to date but when the going got tough he was the best domestic rider.
The leading group grew to eight riders when St Piran duo Jake Alderman and Cameron Jeffers bridged the gap.
With none of these riders being a real contender in the general classification, the peloton let them build a lead. Indeed, the front eight were 2:40 clear after 50 kilometres.
Next was the cat three climb at Pluckhimin and, again, White was the first to cross the summit. Alderman and Potts also picked up points.
The rain was bucketing down as the riders approached the final KOM before the beginning of the Skerries circuit.
Around this point, the peloton was gradually beginning to splinter. The Swiss national team were mainly responsible for this as they accelerated their pursuit of the leaders.
Their good work cut the leaders’ gap to 1:03 by the start of the first lap of the 14-kilometre Skerries circuit.
Just before this, Jeffers took the most KOM points at Cross of the Cage ahead of White and Rounds.
The first Black Hills ascent claimed two victims in the lead group as Lavery and Ryan slipped back.
Three more would soon be absorbed by the peloton as Potts, White and Alderman stayed clear.
Alderman would then attack on his own creating a ten-second gap over Potts and 13 second lead over White with ten kilometres left.
Meanwhile, the yellow jersey group of about 30 riders were 18 seconds back.
Alderman soon lost his lead. This set up a grandstand finish with all the GC contenders involved.
And it was with five kilometres to go that Bugter made his Rás winning attack.
The green jersey holder, white jersey holder Robbe Ghys (Belgium) and Sjoerd Bax (Delta) quickly pulled 18 seconds clear.
That lead had Bugter, who started the day in second 11 seconds back, provisionally in the yellow jersey.
Cyrille Thiery chased on his own to try and keep his lead at the top of the GC.
With one kilometre to go the gap was 11 seconds which meant that Bugter and Thiery were dead level.
Bugter just about edged out Thiery in the end by one second overall as Robbe Ghys took the stage win.
The final standings show that there were only two seconds between the top three of Bugter, Thiery and Ghys. It was agony for Damien Shaw who was bumped off the final podium.
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