A delighted Bryan McCrystal takes the queen stage in Kerry Group Rás Mumhan from the prolific Sean McKenna (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
A winner in the National Road Series over the last two weekends on home roads, Bryan McCrystal of team ASEA has taken the queen stage of Kerry Group Rás Mumhan in Waterville this afternoon.
He got the better of the prolific Sean McKenna (Irish Development Team) in a two-up sprint.
However, it is McKenna who is now in poll position going into tomorrow’s final stage.
He took the yellow jersey from the shoulders of the winner of stages 1 and 2 Paidi O’Brien (Osbourne Meats-McCarthy Cycles).
McKenna, who has been on an amazing run this year with an incredible seven wins to his name, also leads the climbers’ classification.
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The former UCD CC turned Aquablue man was first over the day’s feared cat 1 Coomanaspic with 35 kilometres remaining to the finish back in Waterville.
The eventual stage winner and runner-up were part of a five-man group that broke clear after about 35km of the 142km stage 3 already raced.
That five were: Sean McKenna (Irish Development Team), Bryan McCrystal (Team ASEA), Seb Baylis (Champion System) and a duo of WestFrisia riders from Holland in the shape of Sjors Dekker and Folkert Oostra.
The breakaway, four of whom were 10 seconds down on yellow jersey O’Brien this morning with McCrystal a further 13 seconds back, got down to sharing the workload very well.
The gap shot out to over one minute as the pressure of the early part of the stage and the undulating roads took their toll, leaving only around 40 riders in the yellow jersey group.
There would be a number of efforts to bridge across to the breakaway; Damien Shaw (Team ASEA) attempting that task on his own at one point.
On the Coomanaspic, McKenna and Baylis pushed ahead of the other three in the escape.
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They went over the top in that order, just 15 seconds ahead of McCrystal and Oostra.
And behind them were defending champion Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne) and Grant Ferguson of the Scottish National Team; both of whom had pulled clear of the yellow jersey group on the climb.
Down the other side of the climb, the four men still out front from the original breakaway all regrouped and were hunted down by the fancied Ferguson and Dowling.
But with 20km remaining, the two chasers had caught the four leaders, making it six up front.
Before long, Ferguson attacked the escape and eked out a lead of between five to 10 seconds, with what remained of the bunch now just over one minute behind the leading men on the road.
Ferguson then pulled the gap to the four chasers closer to 20 seconds, before McKenna and McCrystal pounced from the chase group.
They caught the lone leader, making it three up front with 10km remaining.
Sensing the race was going to come back together, the depleted peloton – containing yellow jersey O’Brien and green jersey Harry Tanfield, with his JLT Condor team mates – pushed on and swept up Dowling, Baylis and Oostra.
The yellow jersey group had closed to within 35 seconds of the three leaders when Ferguson lost touch with McKenna and McCrystal.
Just behind them, Ryan Sherlock (Top Team) and Ali Macaulay (Team ASEA) broke free of the depleted peloton to catch Ferguson.
But it was the two leaders who survived to the finish, where McCrystal got the stage and McKenna the leader’s yellow jersey. Macaulay came home for 3rd.
More later.
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