Dom Jackson of Britain's Foran CT has held of a barrage of attacks on the final day of Rás Tailteann to claim the final yellow jersey as Tim Shoreman (UK Wheelbase-Cabtech-Castelli) won the final stage in Bective, Co Meath, today.
Jackson, who took yellow on stage 2, faced attack after attack from the Irish team, especially Dillon Corkery, and stage 2 winner Conn McDunphy (Skyline-Cadence), who had started the day equal on time with the race leader and with Liam O'Brien (Team Ireland).
However, though the Irish riders put up a great fight today, it was Jackson who held them off having defended the yellow jersey since he took it on stage 2.
McDunphy and O'Brien, who finished 1st and 2nd on stage 2 of the race, finished 2nd and 3rd overall, on the same time as race winner Jackson.
Advertisement
On the final stage, Shoreman won in a downpour from Jim Brown (Ribble Rebellion), with John Buller, the Spellman Dublin Port rider who went close several times on this Rás, placing 3rd and Dillon Corkery (Team Ireland) finishing 4th.
Related News
Tim Shoreman Wheelbase CABTECH Castelli takes stage 5 of the 2024 Rás Tailteann. #RásTailteann #Rás2024 pic.twitter.com/sAFFTEFYzw
— Rás Tailteann (@rastailteann) May 26, 2024
Today on stage 5 a 10-man group forged clear on the finishing circuit and on the second passage of the finish line, with two laps of the Bective circuit remaining, they had 23 seconds in hand on the chasing peloton.
That group was comprised of: Daire Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution), Thomas Springbett (UK: Foran CT), JB Murphy (Leinster), Pablo Caros (Canel’s-Java), Jacob Smith (UK Wheelbase-Cabtech-Castelli), Dillon Corkery (Team Ireland), Cian Keogh (Skyline Cadence) Liam Flanagan (Skyline-Cadence), John Buller (Spellman Dublin Port) and Will Perrett (UK: Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling).
The gap they pulled out meant Perrett was virtual yellow jersey on the road, as he had started the day 4th overall just 16 seconds behind leader Jackson. However, they were soon swallowed up, with Corkery, Flanagan and Springbett going clear again almost immediately.
With about 15km to go, as they hurtled towards the finish line again, this time to take the bell, the three leaders had managed to build a gap of about 15 seconds. That effort was short-lived, with Corkery then attacking solo on the final lap in a bid to gain the time he needed to retain the Rás Tailteann crown he took 12 months ago.
He pulled out a gap of 10 seconds on the chasers with 5km to go, though that was halved a couple of kilometres later before he was reeled in with about 2km to go, paving the way for Shoreman to take the final stage.
