Patrick Bevin stamps his name all over the An Post Rás, winning a massive stage 2 into Lisdoonvarna today by nearly two minutes on his own and taking the yellow jersey (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
Having had it all their own way on the opening stage of the An Post Rás into Roscommon yesterday, the An Post-Chainreaction team were swept from the yellow jersey on stage 2 into Lisdoonvarna when New Zealand national team rider Patrick Bevin set the race on fire.
He pulled clear in the last hour of racing with UK-born Irish international Dominic Jelfs (Madison Genesis). The pair built a lead of almost one minute on a four-man chase group that emerged behind after a break of 17 had spent much of the stage up the road.
When the two leaders reached the cat 3 at Ballinalacken, some 144.6km into the 159.2km stage, Bevin dropped Jelfs and pressed on alone.
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He then powered up the final climb of the day, the cat 1 climb at Doonegore starting at 150km, and time trialled the remaining 8km alone into the finish.
By the time he took the chequered flag for a fantastic stage win, and with the field all over the road in his wake, he had nearly two minutes on the chasers. The first section of the very fragmented main field was a little further back.
Alessandro Pettiti (Italy – IDEA) was 2nd on the stage, Clemens Fankhauser (Austria-Tirol) 3rd, Markus Eibegger (Synergy Baku) 4th and David Chopin (France-Bretegne) in 5th and Nic Hamilton of Canada in 6th.
More later.
Stage 2, Roscommon to Lisdoonvarna (provisional results)
- Patrick Bevin (New Zealand national team) 3 hours 32 mins 8 secs
- Alessandro Pettiti (Italy Team Idea 2010 ASD) at 1 min 55 secs
- Clemens Fankhauser (Austria Tirol Cycling Team) same time
- Markus Eibegger (Azerbaijan Synergy Baku Cycling) at 1 min 57 secs
- David Chopin (France Bretagne Velotec) same time
- Nic Hamilton (Canada National Team) at 2 mins 5 secs
- Owain Doull (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) at 2 mins 7 secs
- Remi Pelletier-Roy (Canada National Team)
- Robert Partridge (Britain Velosure Giordana)
- Alex Peters (Britain Madison Genesis) all same time
General Classification
- Patrick Bevin (New Zealand National Team)
- Clemens Fankhauser (Austria Tirol Cycling Team)
- Alessandro Pettiti (Italy Team Idea 2010 Asd)
- Markus Eibegger (Azerbaijan Synergy Baku Cycling)
- David Chopin (France Bretagne Velotec)
- Nic Hamilton (Canada National Team)
- Alex Peters (Britain Madison Genesis)
- Owain Doull (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction)
- Remi Pelletier-Roy (Canada National Team)
- Alistair Slater (Great Britain National Team)
The early escape that formed on the road to Lisdoonvarna on stage 2 of the An Post Rás today (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
How it unfolded
On the 159.2km stage from Roscommon to Lisdoonvarna, the riders faced two hotspot sprints –at Ballygar after 15km and Creggah at 135.2km – and two climbs late in the day. The first of those ascents was the cat 3 at Ballinalacken at 144.6km and the cat 1 climb at Doonegore starting at 150km, and leaving just under 8km to the finish.
There was a fast start to the race with the distance and late climbs of today’s stage clearly not deterring those men feeling strong and will go have a go.
The first group to pull clear numbered 13 riders and quickly gained a gap of 20 seconds after around 15 to 20 minutes of racing completed.
In that group were: Robert Partridge (Britain Velosure Giordana), Jack Wilson (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction), Liam Aitcheson (New Zealand National Team), Martin Weiss (Austria Tirol Cycling Team), Jan Sokol (Azerbaijan Synergy Baku Cycling), Andre Benoit (Germany Team Kuota), Mirko Tedeschi (Italy Team Idea 2010 ASD), Bram Nolten (Netherlands Parkhotel Valkenburg), Liam Holohan (Britain Madison Genesis), James Lewis (Britain NFTO Pro Cycling), Seán Lacey (Cork City Aquablue), Ian Richardson (Dublin Central UDC Arrow) and Mark Dowling (Meath Dunboyne DID).
Those 13 almost instantly became 12 as Andre Benoit (Germany Team Kuota) went back to the peloton.
With a tailwind whipping the racing along, the break’s lead had gone out to 40 seconds by the time they reached the first sprint in Ballygar at 15km, which was won by Synergy Baku’s Sokol.
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With gap still at 30 seconds, some of the really strong home riders left in the pack decided t try and bridge across to the leader’s with Robin Kelly (Waterford Comeragh Race the Rás) going breaking away with Damien Shaw (Cork Aquablue) and Davide Ballerini (Italy Team Idea 2010 ASD), who was in yesterday’s main escape.
However, they were not given much rope by the bunch and were reabsorbed. Alessandro Pettiti (Italy Team 2010 ASD) and Keith Gater (Cork City Aquablue) were next to try and get clear of the bunch as the break now had 55 seconds but, again, they were caught.
Up front the lead group was reduced from 12 to 9 and while the reasons for that were not immediately clear it seemed there may have been a crash.
It left Richardson off the back of the escape with prime winner Sokol and Lewis; with the latter going back to the bunch. As the riders went through the first hour of racing, they had clocked just over 47km and at the point there was a period of intense attacking in the peloton with four riders initially going clear.
They were: Hugh Wilson (Britain NFTO Pro Cycling), Olan Barrett (Cork City Aquablue), yesterday’s breakaway man Eoin Morton (Dublin Central UCD Arrow) and Simon Ryan (Tipperary South).
And as they just about pulled clear of the main field, three riders went after them; Damien Shaw (Cork City Aquablue), Bryan McCrystal (Cork City Aquablue) and John Mason (Dublin North Team 39 Spin 11), the latter coming into some really good form recently in putting in a great ride on the opening stage of the Tour of Ulster to take 3rd and the climbers’ jersey.
Those two groups merged to make a chase group of seven. They were just 35 seconds off the breakaway, with the main field a further 30 seconds back.
At that stage Great Britain had taken up the riding on the front of the peloton, as two horses jumped out of a field and were in the road between breakaway and chasers.
They were thankfully moved off the road and the chasers caught the breakaway, making 17 riders up front. They were: Robert Partridge (Britain Velosure Giordana), Jack Wilson (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction), Liam Aitcheson (New Zealand National Team), Martin Weiss (Austria Tirol Cycling Team), Mirko Tedeschi (Italy Team Idea 2010 ASD), Bram Nolten (Netherlands Parkhotel Valkenburg), Liam Holohan (Britain Madison Genesis), Seán Lacey (Cork City Aquablue), Mark Dowling (Meath Dunboyne DID), Hugh Wilson (Britain NFTO Pro Cycling), Olan Barrett (Cork City Aquablue), Eoin Morton (Dublin Central UCD Arrow), Simon Ryan (Tipperary South), Damien Shaw (Cork City Aquablue), Bryan McCrystal (Cork City Aquablue), John Mason (Dublin North Team 39 Spin 11).
The meant there were no fewer than four Aquablue men in the move, as part of a total of eight county men up front.
The gap was 1:10 between the escape and breakaway, with the An Post-Chainreaction team, along with Great Britain, taking up the chase in the main field despite having Wilson in the move.
There was then a period of frenzied activity, the likes of which race radio in any event finds it impossible to keep track of.
However, the main field closed to within 30 seconds of the escape and at that point a group of unidentified riders jumped across the gap. The front group then split in two, with 50 seconds separating the two sections, with 17 men in the second group.
Then after a general regrouping up front, Patrick Bevin of the New Zealand team went clear and was joined by UK-born Irish international Dominic Jelfs of the Madison Genesis team with 120km completed.
Passing through the Burren, the two leads had 48 seconds on a group of 17 riders clear of the main field.
With 25km remaining, the race situation was significantly changing, with a four-man chase group forming behind the two leaders.
It included: Clemens Fankhauser (Austria Tirol Cycling Team), Markus Eibegger (Azerbaijan Synergy Baku Cycling), David Chopin (France Bretagne Velotec), Alessandro Pettiti (Italy Team Idea 2010 ASD).
And behind them on the road another chase group formed containing: Nic Hamilton (Canada), Peter Williams (France Bretagne Velotec) and Remco Broers (Netherlands ParkHotel Valkenburg).
At around 135km covered and after Bevin took the prime at Creggah, the two leaders had 40 seconds on the first chase group. The second chase group was a further 26 seconds down and the main field further behind and now fragmenting into three groups.
However, the first section of the main field then caught the second chase group, leaving the two leaders up front with a gap of 40 seconds on the four-man chase group and then what you might call the first large section of the main field after it split.
On the cat 3 ascent of Ballinalacken at 144.6km, the flying Kiwi Bevin dropped Jelfs up front, with Jelfs quickly caught by the four man chase group.
Bevin was absolutely motoring on his own out front at that point and had a gap of 50 seconds as they all hurtled towards the cat 1 climb at Doonegore starting at 150km, and leaving just under 8km to the finish in Lisdoonvarna.
And as the Kiwi passed through Doolin and reached the 10km to go marker before making his way onto that cat 1 climb, he now had a massive 1:25 on the four chasers with what was left of the peloton now two minutes behind the lone leader; the man from New Zealand doing his best to set the race on fire.
And when the time checks came over race radio with 2km remaining, he was 1:43 of the chasers with the “bunch” another 30 seconds back.
Bevin stormed into Lisdoonvarna the clear winner, with Alessandro Pettiti (Italy – IDEA) 2nd, Lukas Postleberger (Austria-Tirol) 3rd, Markus Eibegger (Synergy Baku) 4th and David Chopin (France-Bretegne) in 5th and Nic Hamilton of Canada in 6th.
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