Van Schip wins as Irish club riders break into Rás top 10
Dutchman Jan-Willem Van Schip winning today’s second stage of the An Post Rás.
By Brian Canty
Dutchman Jan-Willem Van Schip has won today’s second stage of the An Post Rás. He put in a brilliant late attack which was just enough to hold off a fast-finishing peloton.
The bunch contained the race leader Nicolai Brochner Nielsen who holds the yellow jersey.
Best of the Irish was Robert Jon McCarthy (JLT-Condor); the former stage winner and Rás yellow jersey taking 8th on the day.
Matteo Cigala, the Irish-based Italian rider who rides for Cork Aqua Blue Sport was an impressive 4th on the stage,.
And rounding out the top 10 was Richard Maes; the Killarney CC rider taking an excellent 10th on the day.
Advertisement
Stage winner Van Schip (22) has been having a very good season and came into the race on the back of a stage win at the Tour du Normandie (2.2). He also took victory in Ronde Van Drenthe (1.1) in March.
And his triumph today was just as impressive because of the way he executed a late solo attack from a breakaway.
He never had more than a handful of seconds on the run-in to Newport, Co Mayo
Van Schip absconded from a five-man break with 5km to go. But amazingly, he held on for a very fine win before a huge crowd.
In that quintet he jumped clear from were Damien Shaw (An Post Chain Reaction), Mark Dowling (Strata3-VeloRevolution), Ed Laverack (JLT Condor) and Alex Richardson (Bike Channel UK-Canyon).
They gained over a minute on the peloton inside the last 20 kilometres. And they looked like they could stay away on the twisting run-in to Newport.
Alas, there was too much of a concerted chase from behind. And when the gap came down to around 30 seconds, Van Schip broke clear and rode solo to the finish.
Prior to that late skirmish, the stage was largely uneventful, with several groups getting clear only to be recaptured after brief escapes.
Related News
One of the main talking points was the barriers that came down on a railway crossing with around 90 kilometres of the stage completed.
At that point there was a group of 30 up the road. But with only a handful of seconds on the peloton behind their gap was nullified.
The message was relayed to the front group and the peloton to stop racing.
And because the gap was less than 30 seconds at the time, it was announced over race radio that the groups would stop and restart as one peloton.
No sooner had that message been relay that the train passed. And race director Tony Campbell was seen ordering the barriers up for the racing to recommence.
The groups merged, nonetheless, and its overall bearing on matters was negligible.
It was another very fast stage west from Longford and the 142-kilometre day was covered in 3 hours and 12 minutes.
There were crosswinds and tailwinds to ensure a fraught afternoon in the bunch but thankfully, no rain.
Nicolai Brochner Nielsen and his team rode an excellent race and kept their man in yellow at the finish thanks to leading the chase of the five late escapees that contained Shaw and Dowling.
Christopher McGlinchey (Cycling Ulster) was also impressive today. He finished in the main bunch and is seventh overall as well as in the blue jersey as best county rider.
Matteo Cigala (Aqua Blue Academy) was the first county rider over the line, finishing a brilliant fourth on the stage.
Former Rás Mumhan winner Dennis Bakker (Delta Cycling Rotterdam) is still second at nine seconds and still in the KOM jersey while An Post Chain Reaction man Kasperkiewicz Przemyslaw is third on GC in the same time.
Sasha Weemaes (Belgian National Team) is still the best-placed U23 rider and Chris Latham of Team Wiggins is in the green points jersey.
Stage 2: Longford to Newport
1 Jan Willem Van Schip (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
2 Christopher Latham (Britain Team Wiggins)
3 Yannis Yssaad (France Armee de Terre)
4 Matteo Cigala (Cork Aqua Blue Sport)
5 Andrew Tennant (Britain Team Wiggins)
6 Dennis Bakker (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
7 Daan Meijers (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam)
8 Robert-Jon McCarthy (Britain JLT Condor)
9 Dexter Gardias (Britain Bike Channel Canyon)
10 Richard Maes (Kerry Killarney) all same time
General Classification
1 Nicolai Brochner Nielsen (Denmark Riwal Platform Cycling) 6:29:30
2 Dennis Bakker (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) @9 secs
3 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) same time
4 Thomas Rostollon (France Armee de Terre) @15secs
5 Alexandre Blain (Britain Madison Genesis) @23secs
6 Jan Willem Van Schip (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) @24secs
7 Christopher McGlinchey (Cycling Ulster) @28secs
8 Christopher Latham (Britain Team Wiggins) @31secs
9 Matteo Cigala (Cork Aqua Blue Sport)
10 Robert-Jon McCarthy (Britain JLT Condor) both same time
- Points Classification: Latham
- Mountains Classification: Bakker
- U23 Classification: Sasha Weemaes (Belgium)
- County Rider Overall: McGlinchey
Topics
