Kevin McCambridge cemented his reputation as a bright future
prospect for the pro ranks with a classy victory on the final stage of Rás Tailteann
into Blackrock, Co Louth, today. On a brilliant day, indeed a fantastic week,
for the Irish Daire Feeley has also held onto the yellow jersey and is the
overall winner of the race in its return edition.
Today, the final stage into Blackrock was not unlike yesterday, with breakaways repeatedly going clear only to be brought back. However, Trinity Racing’s McCambridge (20) had gone on a solo attack yesterday and held the bunch off for a prolonged period despite the speed. While he was caught yesterday on stage 4 into Kilbeggan, he stepped up again today with a similar effort.
This time he left it until about 10km from the finish before he
pulled the trigger; opening a gap which he held all the way to the line. He
came up the finishing straight, taking plenty of time to celebrate, and just
about held off the peloton for a brilliant victory, clearly absolutely delighted
with his win.
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That victory today for the 20-year-old is a real personal triumph for him as a crash racing in Belgium, in which he broke both wrists and suffered concussion, earlier this year combined with Covid-19 to wreck the first months of his season. However, he had his day today and looked like he enjoyed it after such an impressive performance.
Behind him, Matthew Teggart of Cycling Ulster won the bunch gallop for 2nd place. He looked very frustrated he had been unable to catch McCambridge and add another victory today to the win he took on the opening stage into Horse and Jockey last Wednesday. Matteo Cigala of Carlow Dan Morrissey was again right in the mix and he took 3rd place on the stage.
Dean Harvey of Team Ireland was wearing the climbers' jersey today, though he was 2nd in that classification to Feeley, who was in yellow. However, first-year U23 rider Harvey targeted the climbers' points on today's final stage, and got them, meaning he won the classification.
Overall Rás 2022 winner Feeley, a 25-year-old from Roscommon, went into this race as one of the clear favourites among the Irish to win and he turned that favourites’ tag into victory.
On the opening stage into Horse and Jockey last Wednesday he placed 29th after a bunch sprint finish. And then over the following two days he laid the basis for his GC win by his usual approach to racing; all-out assault in a bid to win rather than impress.
On stage 2 – into Castleisland – Feeley was among the large breakaway, with his team mate Richie Maes, that dominated the stage. Towards the end of the racing he was among four riders who pushed on the from the breakaway up the late Crags Cave climb.
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He didn’t have it all his own way as the three riders he was with distanced him. Furthermore, stage 1 winner and yellow jersey Matt Teggart (Cycling Ulster) caught him before the finish, along with George Kimber (Spirit Bontrager-BSS Rotor).
But Feeley still took 6th and put time into everyone else in the field. He then went on the attack again the following day, into Lisdoonvarna. From that nine-man breakaway, Feeley and Team Ireland’s Adam Ward kicked on and tackled the climbs of The Burren and Corkscrew Hill in the finale of the longest stage on the race; some 172km.
While Ward beat Feeley to the stage win, the Roscommon man went into yellow. On yesterday’s stage his team – Richie Maes, Vladislav Evseev, Mark Dowling and Tim O’Regan – closed down the attacks and joined others. The stage came down to a bunch sprint, ensuring Feeley held yellow going into today’s finale into Blackrock. It was a once in a lifetime chance and he took it today to win big.
For Feely, while he is expected to continue with his racing, this win crowns what has already been a great career. He was a stand-out junior before going to France, where he rode with UC Monaco. Feeley also regularly represented Ireland as a junior and U23, including at both the Europeans and the world championships.
His time with Monaco was followed by a 2019 season with the EvoPro Racing UCI Continental team. He rode a full campaign of UCI-ranked races in Europe, performed very well in many of them and failed to finish only a handful.
Since then, he has effectively gone on the rampage on the home scene; taking win after win. He claimed the Cycling Ireland National Road Series and also topped the A1 rankings last year and in 2020. He is an aggressive and honest rider and is a very popular competitor on the home scene.
His breaking of the 14-year drought for an Irish winner on the Rás – since Stephen Gallagher triumphed in 2008 – is a great boost for Irish cycling, especially the domestic scene, in a tricky season after the pandemic.
