Thomas Springbett, of visiting UK team Foran CC, has won the opening stage of Kerry Group Rás Mumhan into Tralee, Co Kerry, this evening. He claimed victory after a fine solo effort, making his move after the last climb of the race, which was peaked with just under 20km to go.
And while Springbett was in a dangerous breakaway on the opening stage of the race last year, only to miss out to eventual stage and overall winner Lindsay Watson (Powerhouse Sport), the British rider made no mistake today. He came away with the victory, just about holding off the charging group behind, with two Irish riders 2nd and 3rd.
John Buller of Cycling Ulster won the bunch sprint for 2nd place, just four seconds behind stage winner Springbett, with Sam Coleman of Team Ireland Junior in 3rd place.
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Conor Halvey (Four Masters CC) placed 4th with Patrick O'Loughlin (Skoda Munster) in 5th and Scott Redding (ROKiT-SRCT) 6th. Joe Wilson (Embark Spirit BSS) was 7th, Tom Williams (ROKiT-SRCT) 8th, Odhran Doogan (Caldwell Cycles) 9th and Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) 10th.
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"I just felt I needed to keep it in the biggest gear, keep it going," said Springbett after his stage victory. "I knew the peloton had sat up a little bit so I just kept it lit all the way to the end."
The opening stage, of four, at Rás Mumhan this weekend took the riders on a 77km course. It was two laps of a circuit starting at Tralee and taking in Castleisland and Lyracrumpane before the finish back in Tralee, with a main climb negotiated at 18km and 58km.
Speeds reached 80km and slightly higher at points, and while the final passage of the climb always looked set to be decisive, it was not until after that ascent that a very dangerous-looking move went clear. Aaron Wade, guesting for Lucan CRC, took the KOK on the climb from Conal Scully (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) before one of the visiting Foran CC riders, Thomas Springbett, struck out with his solo move.
Springbett, who has raced in Ireland a number of times and took a stage win and the yellow jersey at the Charleville Two Day in 2021, managed to stretch out his advantage to almost 30 seconds, even though the sprinters' teams were chasing hard behind.
The gap came down a little and then went back out again as Springbett continued his powerful solo move out front in the last 10km. In the final 2km, as more riders were spat out the back of the chasing pack, the gap between the leader and the chasing bunch continued to tumble, though Springbett hung on to take the first stage victory of the weekend, as well as the first race leader's yellow jersey.
More to come.
