Matthew Devins has enjoyed an incredible weekend at Rás Mhaigh Eo, coming away with three stage wins and the overall after going head-to-head with some of the top riders on the domestic scene and beating them.
The weekend results also point to the return of the race winner's new team, Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei, after a slightly more subdued couple of seasons compared to its high standards. While to team battled against Rás Tailteann champion, Daire Feeley, and his All human-VeloRevolution squad, it came away with the bulk of the honours.
While Devins won three stages from three and the final yellow jersey, his team mate Seán Hahessy took the climbers' classification while another of the Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei men, Conor Hennebry, looks like he is on the move back to his top form and won the sprints classification.
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Devins built his overall victory on the time he took on most of the field on the opening stage. However, while the three-man winning breakaway he was in put well over one minute into the nearest chasers, the two men he finished with were always going to pose a real challenge in the fight for overall victory.
One those, Feeley, has been the most prolific winner on the home scene in recent seasons while the other stage 1 breakaway man, Paul Kennedy of Burren CC, has been in fantastic form in the early weeks of this season.
Stage 1
The opening stage of the race on Saturday morning - 104km starting and finishing in Westport -was shaped by very tough racing conditions due to disruptive crosswinds. The race split repeatedly from the start and after the first hour of racing there were multiple groups on the road.
The decisive move off the front began to unfold as the race approached the second climbers' prime at Letterfrack, where a breakaway group was up the road featuring Paul Antoine Hagan (Challenge CC), Niall McLoughlin of promoting club Westport Covey Wheelers, Ryan Keane (Four Masters CC), Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution), Kennedy (Burren CC) and the Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei duo of Hahessy and Conal Scully.
Devins and his team mate Hennebry made the move across to the front group on that second climb. Almost immediately they made the catch it was Kennedy who attacked, getting clear from the front group with Feeley moving with him. Keen not to allow such a strong duo ride away, even though there was over 50km remaining on the stage, Devins went after them and caught them on his own.
That meant he was in the leading group with two of the strongest riders in the race and with three team mates in the chasing group just behind, a very strong position. However, while that chasing group was caught by a pursuing bunch, and that larger group fracturing again, the scenario at the front remained more stable.
Knowing they could sew up the top three positions in the overall for the weekend, Feeley, Kennedy and Devins combined to stay away until the finish, where Devins took the stage victory. Feeley was 2nd and Kennedy placed 3rd, all three on the same time.
The nearest chasers were 1:24 back, Hennebry leading in Cian Keogh (Team Skyline), for 4th and 5th. Some 15 seconds later came McLoughlin and Mark Shannon (Burren CC) in 6th and 7th, with Scully and Eoin Kelly (UCD Cycling) 8th and 9th at 1:42. Andrew Ryan of UCD Cycling Club rounded out the top 10, finishing at 2:09.
Stage 2 TT
With those big gaps established through the field on the opening stage - but the top three on the same time - the riders then went into the afternoon hilly TT. And while it was just 3.4km in length, the terrain and the fact the riders already had a hard stage in their legs, meant more gaps were inevitable.
Devins against proved best; winning the race against the clock in a time of 5:24, some seven seconds faster than runner-up Feeley. Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei) placed 3rd, at 12 seconds, while junior rider Adam Rafferty (US Colomiers) put in a very strong ride for 4th at 15 seconds.
He was just ahead of Niall McLoughlin (Westport Covey Wheelers) in 5th at 16 seconds. Then came the other member of the winning breakaway from stage 1, Kennedy taking 6th at 19 seconds.
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The TT result meant Devins retained the yellow jersey, but now had a seven-second lead over Feeley, with Kennedy 3rd overall at 19 seconds. Hennebry was 4th at 1:46 and Keogh was 5th overall at 1:50, followed by McLoughlin at 1:55 going into Sunday's stage 3.
Stage 3 finale
That final stage took the riders over a 108.5km course, with three categorised climbs. Any notion the Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei team of yellow jersey, Devins, would ride on the front and control the race were put to bed fairly early by Feeley.
The Roscommon man approached the stage with all-out aggression, clearly determined to get up the road in search of stage and overall honours. He attacked over and over, often from the back of the group in a bid to gather speed as he was going off the front.
However, Devins had an excellent team of riders for back-up with the likes of Nathan Keown, Hahessy, Cigala, Hennebry, Scully and Graham O'Brien to call on. And though Feeley really showed his worth today in refusing to lie down, even he and All human-VeloRevolution were up against it.
However, Mitchell McLaughlin of All human-VeloRevolution got up the road and though he was 2:42 down, he has been going very well so far this season and the group he was in began making serious strides off the front. He went clear with Tom Moriarty (Tralee Manor West BC) and Hahessy, though the latter was a team mate of the race leader and was on man-marking duties.
Hahessy played the dutiful team mate up front, though did not pass up the opportunity to take the climbers primes. He took the climbers' jersey off Irish international, Hagan, who was wearing polka dots today after his breakaway ride on stage 1. It looked for a time like the front group might just ride away and McLaughlin could take the overall win, though conditions were very tough.
And when Moriarty dropped back from the breakaway, it meant McLaughlin was effectively on his own up front and gradually it became clear the task at hand would be too much for him, even though Hahessy lost his place at the front when he overshot a bend on a descent.
Back in the bunch, in the last 90 minutes or so of racing, Feeley was trying to get clear in a bid to join McLaughlin up front but was being heavily marked. Mark Shannon (Burren CC) and Anthony Walsh (Roadman CC) got clear with Hennebry in the final third of the race and caught McLaughlin.
Back in the remains of the bunch, just moments after one of Feeley's attacks was covered, a small group went off the front. Yellow jersey Devins let it get a gap before darting across, with nobody going with him. His team Hahessy was with him and once they realised they were clear without Feeley, they put their heads down.
Those six - McLaughlin, Walsh, Hennebry, Hahessy, Shannon, and Devins - all formed one group at the front on the run in to the finish. And though Hahessy went for a flier in the final 1km, and was marked by Walsh, Devins launched from behind, catching and passing them for victory. Hahessy was 2nd with Walsh 3rd and Shannon 4th, all on the same time. Then came McLaughlin and Hennebry 5th and 6th at three seconds.
Over a minute elapsed before Karl Benson (Castlebar CC) finished in 7th place, at 1:05. He was just three seconds up on a near 30-rider group - containing Feeley and Kennedy - which was led home by Cigala in the sprint for 8th place.
Final verdict
In the end, the battle for yellow was won by Devins by 1:19 from Feeley, with Kennedy 3rd overall at 1:32. Hennebry was 4th, at 1:49, with Shannon 5th at 2:14 and McLaughlin 6th at 2:45.
The women's race was won by Caoimhe O'Brien (Unattached Leinster) by 20 seconds from her sister, Aoife O'Brien (Spellman Dublin Port), with Orla Walsh (UCD Cycling Club) 3rd at 25:25.
Niall McLoughlin of the promoting club won both the A2 classification and the combined Junior-A2-A3 overall. The sprints classification was won by Hennebry from Kennedy and Hagan. Hahessy won the climbers' classification, from Hagan and McLaughlin.
The A3 classification was won by Michael Gammell (Burren CC) while Adam Rafferty (US Colomiers) won the junior classification and Dan Morrissey-Primór by Pissei won the team prize.
