This great footage has emerge of a rite of passage moment for most Rás Tailteann riders; the bunch being lined out at high speed and the lads at the back doing their very best to hang on.
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This clip was shared by well known Irish cycling commissaire Gary McIlroy today and captures the moment brilliantly just after Loughrea at about the halfway point of today's stage.
At the moment this footage was recorded, the bunch was doing about 60km per hour and Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing) was off the front on his own, clearly hoping a breakaway group would come across to him.
When stickybottle spoke to race director Ger Campbell before the event he believed today's stage would be very hard as the breeze was expected to be a tailwind. He said the line-outs would form and the race would be relentless, with riders getting dropped.
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The footage above shows just how fast the field is traveling and the gaps opening between the riders at the back. Once that gap opens, it is very hard - indeed impossible - to get back into the group. And barring a sudden lull in the pace, which is unlikely, a gap of a few lengths quickly shoots out and spells the end of a rider's time in the bunch for the remainder of the stage.
The first half of today's race was characterised by plenty of attacking, though all of the moves were brought back.
