Niek Hoornsman celebrates his win into Portmagee after an epic stage 2 at Dornan Rás Mumhan (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Every rider who has pinned on a number for the Irish Easter stage races down the years has war stories to tell. Whether it's Rás Mumhan, the Gorey Three Day or the International Tour of the North, they've all produced drama and fireworks. The suffering is certain, much of it extreme.
Today was definitely a war story day for the 124 brave souls who set out on the long and hilly stage 2 to Portmagee on Dornan Rás Mumhan. The Easter racing in Kerry is always a step up after the first month of the season. Strong teams come over from abroad, bringing a new edge to the battle, and many of the top Irish riders peak for this race.
- You can get full access to stickybottle by subscribing at this link. Per month, it's less than the price of a cup of coffee. Go for it.
But the weather also decided to intervene today, with a severe weather warning in place due to the high winds brought in by Storm Dave. It was one of those days when, if the crosswinds didn't get you, the slopes of Cuam an Easpaig would.
Advertisement
And just in case the menu for the day wasn't spicey enough, the heavens opened from the start as the riders raced out of Killarney. By the time the field arrived into Portmagee on the Iveragh peninsula more than three hours later, they were scattered almost 40 minutes back the road in south Kerry from 1st to last.
First over the line today was 24-year-old Dutchman Niek Hoornsman, riding for West Frisia, who outsprinted Britain's Danylo Riwnyj (CT Foran) after they emerged best from the day's winning breakaway.
One man not at the front at the finish was former race winner Lindsay Watson. However, the 2022 champion was one of the men of the stage. Racing for Caldwell Powerhouse, he appeared to run out of legs in the final few kilometres after the effort of such a hard day took its toll. But his effort was epic.
The 116.1km stage started from Killarney before going on to Glencar, over Bealach Oisín, for a battering by the crosswinds and headwinds on the Iveragh Peninsula. Then came the Cuam an Easpaig climb, followed by the descent and the final section into Portmagee for the finish.
How the race unfolded
The eventual stage winner, Hoornsman, was among those riders very active at the start, though he was absent from the first dangerous-looking breakaway that managed to build a decent advantage.
In that move were yellow jersey Liam Crowley and his Orwell Wheelers team mate Evan Keane, along with Ruairi Byrne (UCD Cycling Club), who was outstanding today. Junior rider Darragh Byrne (Cycling Leinster), was also brave enough to go early, as were Daire Feeley (Burren CC) and Gareth O'Neill (Dan Morrissey-Pissei).
However, while they gained an advantage of close to one minute at one point, their gap kept changing - getting smaller and going out again - until they were reabsorbed with about 50km completed.
Not long after they were caught, the counter attacking and the cat 3 Coom climb, crested with about 60km still to race, saw a small breakaway go clear.
In that move were James McKenny (VeloRevolution-Speed Queen), Duracell Easter bunny Daire Feeley (Burren CC), Niek Hoornsman (West Frisia) and Lindsay Watson (Caldwell Powerhouse).
After the climb, it was Watson and Hoornsman who pushed clear of the others; Watson looking strongest at that point as he pressed on solo being chased by the Dutch rider.
As they raced onto the cat 3 Cools climb - crested at 72km - Watson was leading solo by about 15 seconds from Hoornsman, with Feeley and McKenny a matter of seconds behind and the remains of the peloton at about a minute.
Watson was then caught by Hoornsman, as Feeley and McKenny were collected by the peloton, with the gap between the two leaders and the bunch still at about one minute.
Related News
As they raced towards Portmagee and crossed the finish line for the first time, the two leaders had 1:19 on two chasers, Feeley and Joseph Mullen (Moynalty CC).
Anders Waehre (Team North) was another few seconds back, with Ruairi Byrne (UCD Cycling Club) about 15 seconds behind him and the bunch crossing the line 2:06 behind the two leaders.
On the finishing circuit, the four riders who were in between the two leaders and the bunch came together into a chasing group as they raced towards the cat 1 Cuam an Easpaig; a 2km climb with a block headwind.
And though Ruairi Byrne and Mullen emerged strongest of the chase group in the pursuit of the two leaders, the main action was Danylo Riwnyj (Foracn CT) coming with a late charge to blast across the gap of over one minute to the Watson and Hoornsman at the head of the race.
With about 15km to go, he had caught them. The leading trio - Riwnyj, Watson and Hoornsman - had a gap of about 50 seconds with 10km over a 20-man group containing yellow jersey Crowley.
But with approximately 5km to go, the crosswinds began taking their toll on Watson, who was jettisoned from the three-man breakaway, leaving Riwnyj and Hoornsman up front as they raced towards the finish.
And that was the way it stayed, with Hoornsman best in the final sprint to win the day but Riwnyj in 2nd place, at two seconds, and having ridden himself into yellow jersey.
They were 55 seconds up on Gabriel Dellar (Ride Revolution Coaching), who finished solo in 3rd place. And then came a 20-rider group, at 1:20, lead in by Jip Schouren (Limburg Cycling Selection) for 4th.
Young Curtis Neill (Velo Revolution), who looks like a different rider this season, was best of the Irish, in 7th. He was followed by three more Irish riders; yesterday's stage winner Josh Callaly (Velo Performance) in 8th, Ruairi Byrne (UCD Cycling Club) in 9th and yellow jersey Crowley in 10th.
There were also a handful of other Irish riders in that chase group, all putting in a great shift. Hugh Óg Mulhearne (Dornan Cycling Munster) was 12th and was one of only two junior riders in the group; a fantastic ride.
First-year U23, and last year's runner-up in the junior road race at the National Road Championships, Rory Condon (O'Leary Stone Kanturk) was 13th. Fionn Killeen (Shay Murphy Leinster Development), the other junior in the group, was 15th - a great performance by the 17-year-old. The impressively aggressive Joseph Mullen (Moynalty CC) was 18th.
Jack Conroy (Velo Performance) also made the cut, finishing in the 20-rider chasing group, in 20th, with Tadhg Killeen (Cycling Leinster) also there, in 21st.
Spare a thought for Lindsy Watson (Caldwell Racing) - last man in the group and three seconds off the back of it after going for broke with an epic performance. The stage showcased his quality, though he just ran out of legs at the very last.
The result means yellow jersey today, Crowley, now slips to 2nd overall and he is 1:06 down on new race leader Riwnyj. Juul Hendrikx (Limburg Cycling Selection) is now 3rd at 1:13 with two stages remaining.
Best of the Irish are Velo Performance team mates Callaly and Neill, in 5th at 7th, at 1:19 and 1:28 respectively. Junior Mulhearne, riding up a storm this weekend, is also in the top 10, filling 9th position at present at 1:34.
For full results, please follow this link.
