Ireland's Ryan Mullen, third from right, is now looking good for an assault on the yellow jersey over the next three days of the Rás after another assured ride in the rain and wind today. In the photo above he is combining with his team mates and some of the other riders in the stage 5 escape going through Bangor, Co Mayo (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
By Brian Canty
Aaron Gate made it three wins in four days for the An Post Chainreaction team on a Rás stage when Martyn Irvine fell out of contention and Ryan Mullen moved up to third overall.
Today was billed as a day that could really trim down the list of overall contenders and so it proved, with Irvine one of the biggest casualties.
Advertisement
The Madison Genesis man was caught at the wrong side of a split early in the race and though he managed to get into a 14-man chase group, they never merged to the leaders up ahead.
And at the head of affairs was where six of the top 10 riders starting the stage from Newport to Ballina today found themselves.
In his debut Rás, reigning national road race and U23 time trial champion Ryan Mullen (An Post-Chainreaction) was present alongside three teammates.
Eventual stage winner Gate was there along with yesterday’s victor Aidis Kroupis and Josh Edmondson.
The latter started the day second overall behind race leader of Lukas Postberger (Tirol CT) – who was also in the escape - while Gate was ninth starting the day and is now in the top five.
Some of the other big GC men in the move were Rob Partridge (NFTO) and Jaap de Man (Team 3M), the latter nicking fourth on the stage.
Nearing Ballina after a breezy and wet stage Gate escaped with the Italian duo Tizza and Malucelli.
And while they were caught on the line by the remains of the breakaway just behind, they filled the podium in that order.
Ryan Mullen retains the U23 jersey while Ian Richardson has the overall county rider jersey for another day.
Simon Ryan (Mego Racing Team) was the best-placed county rider this afternoon, the Tipperary man crossing the line in the chase group.
How it unfolded
Today’s stage took the riders 142km from Newport to Ballina and as well as three hot spot primes the day featured two category three climbs.
Robin Kelly (Mayo Coleman Electronics) showed his intent early on and was first out of the traps in a move alongside Alex Minting of Neon Velo CT but it was quickly neutralised.
And not long after they were reeled in another county man, Simon Ryan (Mego Racing Team), showed his ambition with a stinging acceleration; Nick Bain of the New Zealand National team going with him.
Several more riders tried to bridge, including Irish duo Daniel Stewart (Antrim Phoenix) and Ken Tobin (Dublin Bikeworx).
And at around the 30 kilometre mark the first significant splits started to appear.
Crucially for the yellow jersey of Lukas Postberger (Tirol CT); he stayed right up towards the front and was at the right side of some huge splits.
Many of the overall contenders, including Ryan Mullen (An Post-Chainreaction), were similarly well placed.
At the first time check the yellow jersey lead group with around 20 riders in it maintained a lead of around half a minute on a chase group that tried desperately to bridge.
The aforementioned Ryan and Marc Potts (North Down Graham Powerhouse Sport) were the two county riders in that first group on the road.
Further back, the third group continued to lose ground and after 50 kilometres they were almost two minutes in arrears.
In that first group were; Postlberger, Dominik Hrinkow (Hrinkow Advarics Cycling Team), Mullen, Kruopis, Gate, Edmondson (all An Post Chain Reaction), Sebastien (Tiro, CT) Schonberger, Jap de Man (Team 3M), Rob Partridge (NFTO), James Lewis (NFTO), Marco Tizza (Team IDEA), Elie Gesbert (Team Pays de Dinan), Matteo Malucelli, Nick Bain Cycling NZL), Simon Ryan (Mego Racing Team), Davide Vigano (Team IDEA), Alex Frame (Cycling NZL) and Marc Potts (North Down Graham Powerhouse Sport).
At the 70 kilometre mark the situation was more or less the same, with 45 seconds between groups one and two while the third group was over a minute back now.
Simon Ryan and Potts folded under the pressure of those driving the lead group but managed to tack onto the second group on the road behind.
Ryan rode exceptionally well today and somehow managed to get back up to the lead group and he would take home the best county rider award by day's end.
In that chasing pack were four other Irish men; Martyn Irvine (Madison Genesis), Conor Dunne (An Post Chainreaction), Ian Richardson (UCD CC), Ronan McLaughlin (Cork Aquablue).
At that point there were 16 up ahead and 14 chasing behind and the biggest group was next.
Related News
The front group rode very well together, with much co-operation from all of those present.
Among the leaders were those men heading all of the main classifications; underlining how hard the stage was, with the field battered by rain and wind.
Inside 25 kilometres to go and the race took the biggest turn of the week yet as the gap to the chase group ballooned, all but ending Martyn Irvine’s chances of winning overall.
With 20 kilometres to go the gap was 3:40 as the attacks from the front started; Mullen among those who were particularly aggressive.
However, Postlberger was doing his level best to keep everything together for another day.
Mullen went clear with 10k to go with Malucelli for company while his An Post teammate Aaron Gate was always ready to counter any moves.
And that tactic worked a charm as Gate, Tizza and Malucelli got away inside 5k to go.
The trio began to look at each other approaching the final kilometres but it was Gate who got the jump and he powered his way up the finishing straight in Ballina to take the win, adding it to his victory on stage 2.
Tizza was second with Malucelli rounding out the stage podium, though the rest of the breakaway caught them on the line.
Simon Ryan of Limerick Mego RT was first county rider home. Mullen retained the U23 jersey while Ian Richardson retained the county rider jersey.
Stage 5: Newport to Ballina (142.4km)
1 Aaron Gate (An Post Chain Reaction) 3 hours 7 mins 32 secs
2 Marco Tizza (Team IDEA 2010 ASD)
3 Matteo Malucelli (Team IDEA 2010 ASD)
4 Jaap de Man (Team 3M)
5 Aidis Kruopis (An Post Chain Reaction)
6 Davide Vigano (Team IDEA 2010 ASD)
7 Dominik Hrinkow (Hrinkow Advarics Cycleangteam)
8 Joshua Edmondson (An Post Chain Reaction) at 3 secs
9 Elie Gesbert (Team Pays De Dinan)
10 Alex Frame (New Zealand National Team) both same time
General Classification
1 Lukas Postlberger (Tirol Cycling Team) 17 hours 53 mins 48 secs
2 Joshua Edmondson (An Post Chain Reaction) at 1 min 5 secs
3 Ryan Mullen (An Post Chain Reaction) at 1 min 52 secs
4 Robert Partridge (NFTO) at 3 mins 10 secs
5 Aaron Gate (An Post Chain Reaction) at 4 mins 32 secs
6 Jaap de Man (Team 3M) at 5 mins 21 secs
7 Aidis Kruopis (An Post Chain Reaction) at 7 mins 29 secs
8 Alex Frame (NEW ZEALAND National Team) at 7 mins 34 secs
9 Martyn Irvine (Madison Genesis) at 7 mins 44 secs
10 Sebastian Schonberger (Tirol Cycling Team) at 11 mins 11 secs
Points Classification
1 Lukas Postlberger (Tirol Cycling Team) 50
2 Aaron Gate (An Post Chain Reaction) 46
3 Jaap de Man (Team 3M) 40
Climbers' Classification
1 Robert Partridge (NFTO) 25
2 Joshua Edmondson (An Post Chain Reaction) 13
3 Ryan Mullen (An Post Chain Reaction) 11
County Rider Classification
1 Ian Richardson (Dublin UCD)
2 Sean McKenna (Cork Aquablue)
3 Robin Kelly (Mayo Coleman Electronics – T.K.E)
U23 General Classification
1 Ryan Mullen (An Post Chain Reaction)
2 Jaap de Man (Team 3M)
3 Alex Frame (New Zealand National Team)
Topics
