Irish riders attack Rás opener but visitor takes first blood
Chris McGlinchey leads the breakaway men on the road to Longford during An Post Rás stage 1.
Nicolai Nielsen (Riwal Platform Cycling) has taken the opening stage of An Post Rás 2017 into Longford.
The Danish rider proved quickest of the breakaway in the sprint to the line at the end of 146.1km.
It was a fast and furious opening day, with 47km covered in the first hour of racing.
And while Chris McGlinchey (Cycling Ulster) made the six-man winning breakaway he would lose contact with about 20km remaining.
Marc Potts (Neon Velo), Seán Lacey (Aqua Blue Sport), Simon Ryan (Strata3 -VeloRevolution) and Richard Maes (Killarney) had gone in pursuit of the escape.
They spent much of the stage between breakaway and peloton.
Advertisement
However, all of the Irish men were caught and Nielsen would take the win.
He arrived at the finish among four survivors from the initial six-man breakaway.
With him were Polish rider Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (An Post-Chainreaction), France’s Thomas Rostollon (Armee de Terre) and Dutchman Dennis Bakker (Delta Cycling Rotterdam).
Nielsen won from king of the mountains Bakker, followed by Kasperkiewicz and Rostollon.
And having enjoyed a gap of over four minutes at one point it was closed to just 16 seconds on the line.
The bunch sprint for 5th was won by Chris Latham (Team Wiggins), with Irish rider Robert Jon McCarthy (JLT Condor) in 6th place.
Matteo Cigala was the first man home riding for a county team; he placed 10th for Cork Aqua Blue Sport.
How it unfolded Dublin to Longford (146.1km)
The key move of the day came at around the 40km mark just after the race zipped through Trim, Co Meath.
Polish rider Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz, who is in the An Post Chain Reaction team, broke clear solo.
He was chase by France’s Thomas Rostollon (Armee de Terre) and Dutchman Dennis Bakker (Delta Cycling Rotterdam).
Related News
And behind them a third group formed on the road.
It consisted of Alexander Blain (Madison Genesis), Dane Nicolai Nielsen (Riwal Platform Cycling) and Irish rider Christopher McGlinchey of Cycling Ulster.
The eventual stage winner Nielsen wins the hot spot sprint in Oldcastle.
They all merged to form a six-man breakaway and began pulling out a gap. Behind them a four-man chase group, made up of Irish riders, formed.
It contained Marc Potts (Neon Velo), Seán Lacey (Aqua Blue Sport), Simon Ryan (Strata3 -VeloRevolution) and Richard Maes (Killarney).
And that’s how it stayed for the next hour; with the gap growing gradually between the bunch and then the breakaway and chase group.
At the 80km marker the gap between the breakaway and the main field was three minutes. And the four Irish chasers had closed to within 55 seconds of McGlinchey and the five men he was with at the head of affairs.
The breakaway would then add another minute to its gap over the peloton. And back in that main field of was Team Wiggins doing the bulk of the chasing.
It had missed the escape and was clearly keen to put its best sprinter Chris Latham in contention for a stage win.
As the stage moved into the pointy end of affairs, with some 25km remaining, the gap had come down and the chase group had been caught.
With 20km remaining McGlinchey and Blain had paid for their efforts up front, being distanced by the other four.
Kasperkiewicz, Rostollon, Bakker and Nielsen were holding on very well, with two minutes in hand on the main field as they raced towards the finish deep inside the final 10km.
However, that had been trimmed to 1:40 with 4km remaining as McGlinchey and Blain had been caught by the main field. And with 2km to the finish it was down to 1:25.
And as the finish town was reached it was Rostollon who looked strongest; attacking the three other leaders only to be recaptured.
In the end it was Dane Nicolai Nielsen (Riwal Platform Cycling) who took the stage and the first yellow jersey of the race.
Provisional top 10 Stage 1
1, Nicolai Nielsen (Denmark Riwal Platform Cycling) 3 hours 16 mins 49 secs
2, Dennis Bakker (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
3, Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction)
4, Thomas Rostollon (France Armee de Terre)
5, Christopher Latham (Britain Team Wiggins) at 16 secs
6, Robert-Jon McCarthy (Britain JLT Condor)
7, Sasha Weemaes (Belgian National Team)
8, Jan Willem Van Schip (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
9, Stephane Poulhies (France Armee de Terre)
10, Matteo Cigala (Cork Aqua Blue Sport) all same time
Topics
