Luke Lamperti wins on Gallows Hill on the penultimate stage of the Junior Tour of Ireland (All photos by Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
By Graham Gillespie
For the second day straight Team Swift’s Luke Lamperti has taken a stage win at the Junior Tour of Ireland.
As a reward for his victory on stage 5, Lamperti now holds the green points jersey
Today the American showed his climbing skills as crossed the finish line on the cat 1 Gallows Hill ahead of Andrew Vollmer (Lux-Specialized).
NRPT-Chill Insurance’s Sean Kennedy was 3rd; the Irish rider really stepping up at the end of a hard stage to fight and beat all but two of his Irish and foreign rivals.
Michael McGlynn, the Omagh Wheelers man riding for Ulster this week, is best of the Irish overall after today's stern test.
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He has had an impressive race and is now 8th overall some 32 seconds off yellow.
It was a classy win for Lamperti; a climbing victory just 24 hours after triumphing in a bunch sprint underlining his versatility.
It was also all change in the general classification on a chaotic day in Co Clare which saw the peloton decimated on the climbs.
Race leader Magnus Sheffield (Hot Tubes) suffered a puncture and lost his yellow jersey to South African national champion Rickardo Broxham.
Team Ireland’s Cathir Doyle kept the climbers’ jersey. Lamperti is the best first year junior but Ian Spenkelink (Tempo-Hoppenbrouwers) wears white as Lamperti is in green.
Top down: Classy Broxham, the South African champion, riding into yellow. Yellow jersey Sheffield battles to hold his race lead after a puncture. Conor Gallagher of the Irish team having left it all out on the road.
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Today’s stage 5 went from Clarecastle to Gallows Hill and contained a gruelling four categorised climbs.
The first ascent was a cat 3; tackled in Ogonelloe. NRPT’s Eoghan Magee won this climb ahead of Doyle and his Team Ireland team mate Conor Gallagher.
It was on the second climb of the day at Sallybank, however, that the peloton began to split.
That climb turned the peloton into three main groups with yellow jersey Sheffield managing to remain in the front selection.
This lead group of approximately 30 also initially included leading Irish rider Mark Smith (Leinster).
Points leader Shay Donley was in this pack as well, along with his Ireland teammates Doyle and Gallagher.
However, the lead group would become smaller and smaller as the riders became strung out all along the road.
In the lead up to the Windy Gap cat 2 climb there would be several attacks in the yellow jersey group.
By now it had only 14 riders, with four men breaking clear and riding up the road.
The four were Jared Scott (Lux Specialized) and Nathaniel Moser (Holowesko Citadel) along with the Tempo-Hoppenbrouwers duo of Ian Spenkelink and Mike Vliek.
Spenkelink and Vliek lost touch to leave Moser and Scott at the front. It was also at this point that Magnus Sheffield suffered his puncture.
He and his teammates fought hard to keep the race lead. And they did succeed in reclaiming some of the time they lost through the mechanical.
A regrouping of sorts occurred at the front ahead of the Windy Gap showdown, with 16 riders now in the lead breakaway.
They pushed on to build a 55 second advantage over the yellow jersey group with 3km remaining.
Sheffield could not wrestle enough time back to stop Broxham taking the yellow jersey.
Meanwhile, Lamperti narrowly bested Vollmer by a wheel on the Gallows Hill finish.
Kennedy was impressive against international opposition for 3rd on the hardest stage of the race.
Stage 5: Ennis - Gallows Hill (124.2km)
- Lamperti, Luke Team Swift 3h02'21"
- Vollmer, Andrew Lux/SideshowSpecializ
- Kennedy, Sean NRPT-- Chill Ins
- Riccitello, Matthew Lux/SideshowSpecializ @04"
- McNeil, Aidan Team Swift
- Paige, Charlie Green Jersey RT GBR
- Barnes, Toby Mid West Britain
- Curley, Liam Ireland
- Oliveira, Matthew Hot Tubes 2
- Noonan, James Hoppers Rollers
- Maher, Lane Hot Tubes
- Lutz, Henry Holowesko Citadel
- Broxham, Rickardo South Africa
- Jones, Seth Dornier Racing Team @12"
- Davidson, Lance Dornier Racing Team @14"
- McGlynn, Michael Ulster
- May, Cian Ireland @17"
- Gallagher, Conor Ireland @20"
- Pounder, Alastair Holowesko Citadel @21"
- Peatfield, Isaac Green Jersey RT GBR
General Classification
- Broxham, Rickardo South Africa 10h53'11"
- Vollmer, Andrew Lux/SideshowSpec @06"
- Oliveira, Matthew Hot Tubes 2 @14"
- Lamperti, Luke Team Swift = s/t
- Noonan, James Hoppers Rollers @23"
- Lutz, Henry HoloweskoCitade @25"
- Paige, Charlie Green Jersey RT @32"
- McGlynn, Michael Ulster = s/t
- Curley, Liam Ireland @34"
- McNeil, Aidan Team Swift @35"
- Maher, Lane Hot Tubes @36"
- Jones, Seth Dornier Racing T @37"
- Riccitello, Matthew Lux/SideshowSpec @41"
- Gallagher, Conor Ireland @46"
- May, Cian Ireland @58"
- Peatfield, Isaac Green Jersey RT @59"
- Pounder, Alastair HoloweskoCitade @01'03"
- Davidson, Lance Dornier Racing T @01'05"
- Ormiston, Callum South Africa @01'06"
- McCambridge, Kevin Ulster @01'09"
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