Josie Knight takes third stage win at Rás na mBan 2019 | Sticky Bottle

*Team Ireland's Maeve Gallagher, Alice Sharpe and Lara Gillespie lead the pursuit over the Wolf Trap in the Slieve Bloom Mountains (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan)*

Having won the opening two stages already at Rás na mBan, Josie Knight has made it three in a row this afternoon.

The Great Britain cyclist has also
extended her lead in the general classification, points classification and
young rider classification.

Maeve Gallagher, the 17-year-old from Co
Mayo, was best of the Irish again. Riding on the elite Irish team she once
again made the breakaway, for the second day in a row.

And though she felt the pinch on the final climb to the finish line and slipped back from some of the others in the select group, she was not caught by the chasers.

That means she took 5th place on the
stage, placing her 5th overall and also extending her lead in the Irish rider
classification.

Knight won the stage by 2 seconds from Claire Steels (Brother UK Fusion) with Knight’s team mate Anna Shackley in 3rd a further one second back.

The harder the racing and the bigger the company the better Maeve Gallagher seems to race. She's the leading Irish rider at Rás na mBan and the 17-year-old is out-climbing quality riders from the international racing scene (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan)

Then came Natalie Grinczer (Brother UK
Fusion), in 4th place and five seconds down on the winner. Gallagher (Team
Ireland) was 5th at 45 seconds followed by Elynor Backstedt (Storey Racing) a
further 11 seconds back.

Ireland’s other top junior, Lara Gillespie of Team Ireland also climbed very well; placing 8th at 1:02. Maire Claffey of UCD CC, now emerging as one of Ireland’s top riders, was 10th at 1:09.

The riders faced a testing stage 3 from Kilkenny to The Cut in Co Laois for an uphill finish.

They faced the first climb, of Wolftrap, at 75.9km followed by the final ascent of The Cut at 108.8km.

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Ellen McDermott made the first breakaway of the day that stuck, leading solo a long time before the first climb but being caught and dropped on it by Molly Patch (Fusion RT).

It was Patch who went over the top of the climb leading solo, with 40 seconds in hand over the closest chasers.

*Josie Knight makes it three; a dream race for the Great Britain won as she wins again atop The Cut in Co Loais (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan)*

Josie Knight has been rampant so far; attacking the best, climbing with the best and having by far the strongest finish. She's in the leader's pink jersey after three stages (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan)

However, she had been caught by a group
of 29 riders with 20km remaining as the strongest riders braced for the final
climb; a cat 1 some 7.4km in length averaging 4.5 per cent and with some
sections at 9.8 per cent.

Before that final climb began there was
a regrouping, with 20 riders catching the leaders to make a front group of
about 50.

Once they hit the climb Irish elite
champion Alice Sharpe (Team Ireland) was to the fore in pushing the pace and
reducing the group down to between 15 and 20 riders.

As the climb progressed and the finish line got closer a group of five riders pulled clear, race leader Knight among them, though Ireland's Alice Sharpe and Lara Gillespie were with them for a long time.

Indeed, the three Irish women had driver the pace earlier on the climbs for a period before Gallagher was among the last five standing in the summit finish ascent at the end of the stage.

For company she had Anna Shackley (British Cycling), Natalie Grinczer (Fusion RT), Claire Steels (Fusion RT) and race leader Josie Knight (Great Britain).

The stage result means Knight now leads overall by 7 seconds from Steels, with Shackley in 3rd at 18 seconds.

Then comes Grinczer in 4th at 20 seconds followed by Gallagher in 5th at 1:00.