Lucas Lillistone of Halesowen Academy-Mapei has taken a second stage win at the Quanta Capital Junior Tour of Ireland, and the yellow jersey by just three seconds (Photo: Stephen McMahon-Sportsfile)
Lucas Lillistone (Halesowen Academy-Mapei) has made his intentions very clear on the Junior Tour of Ireland in recent days, winning a stage with a classy attack into Kilkee and also proving a menace with his efforts to get off the front.
And again today, Saturday, on the penultimate stage of the Quanta Capital-backed race, he got off the front again and took his second victory, this time into Ballyallia.
With the time he gained, including the bonus seconds for winning the stage, he has taken the yellow jersey from Team Ireland's double stage winner Rian McCrystal (Team Ireland).
However, it remains very tight at the top, in a general classification heavily influenced by bunch sprints and bonus seconds.
McCrystal and his Team Ireland team mates are still in with a very strong chance of winning the race overall, and perhaps remain the favourites to do so.
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But a strong man has the race lead now and Lillistone deservedly holds that yellow jersey, especially given the fact his stage wins have come with brave attacks, matched by his physical abilities.
Cormac Nagle of Hot Tubes was one of the riders of the race today, going to the front in the final, riding off the front and bring two others with him, with two more to follow (Photo: Stephen McMahon-Sportsfile)
Lillistone today got clear in the late five-man move, which gained nine seconds on the bunch. He won the day from Matthew Crabbe (Hot Tubes), Rab Drummond (Team Rauland), Cormac Nagle (Hot Tubes) and Nils Hummel (Team California).
Nagle of Hot Tubes simply rode off the front of the peloton inside the final 10km to drag the breakaway clear. It initially numbered three, with Lillistone then getting across to it just before the finish.
Zach Barbour (Spokes Oscar Onley) won the bunch sprint for 6th, with Irish riders Riley Smith (Cycling Ulster) and Conor Regan (Kilcullen CC Murphy Geospatial) 7th and 8th and best of the Irish. Noah Finn (Cycling Leinster) was 10th.
Lillistone now leads the race overall and leads the first-year junior classification, with McCrystal, just 3 seconds off yellow, in 2nd place followed by Nagle, 3rd at 13 seconds and Drummond in 4th at 14 seconds.
McCrystal holds the points jersey and his Team Ireland team mate, Hugh Og Mulhearne leads the climbers' classification.
How stage 5 unfolded
On today's 108.6km stage from Ennis to Ballyallia, the Irish team could have been forgiven for thinking it was a case of 'job done' - and maybe even another stage win shot - when they reeled in the several breakaways on the day.
But after those were caught, five others took flight from the peloton. And though the attackers were literally dangling off the front of the pack on the run in to the finish, with a gap barely above 10 seconds, they made it to the chequered flag.
Rian McCrystal of Cycling Ireland was in the yellow jersey today, on the front helping his team mates close down the attacks (Photo: Stephen McMahon-Sportsfile)
Having been so dominant in the final of stage 2 - with a late solo attack that held off the bunch by two seconds - Lillistone stepped up to win again into Ballyallia.
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Stage runner-up, Drummond, will also be a man for the Irish team, and Lillistone, to watch tomorrow as he had started today's stage 5th overall, just 24 seconds behind McCrystal. And with the nine seconds gained by the breakaway, and his time bonus for 3rd, he has also moved up well into contention to win this race overall.
However, McCrystal has been very convincing this week; the first-year junior winning one stage with 'a breakaway from the breakaway' and then another from a reduced bunch sprint.
And if he can get into the bonus seconds at the finish at all tomorrow, he gives himself a great chance, though Lillistone has every right to have the same idea for himself.
The opening hour of today's stage was run off at 46km per hour, and from that early action sprang a breakaway that took a long time to go - almost 40km into the stage.
☝️ Lucas Lillistone takes his second stage victory of the 2026 Quanta Capital Junior Tour! 🏆
The Halesowen Academy-Mapei rider also moves into the Yellow Jersey heading into tomorrow’s final stage, setting up a thrilling finale 🟡#JuniorTour2026 #QuantaCapital pic.twitter.com/YcP07B2H39
— Junior Tour Ireland (@JTIreland1) July 11, 2026
In that move were: Sylvan Garrelts (Hot Tubes), Cian Connolly (New England), Kaison Smith (EF Education-ONTO), Desmond Mohr (Boulder Junior) and Stephen Savino (New England).
Garrelts started the stage 31 seconds off the race lead, though the breakaway never really established anything resembling a stage-winning advantage today and their time off the front was very short-lived, at around 5km.
Sylvan Garrelts (Hot Tubes), Jacob Hines (EF Education-ONTO), Will Siminski (Leinster-Shay Murphy Development) and Callum Maciver (Team Rauland) were the next breakaway to form.
That was trimmed back to three - Garrelts, Maciver and Hines - on the first KOH, after they had pulled out a gap north of 30 seconds just after the halfway point of the stage. Garrelts was first up that climb from Maciver and Hines.
However, they were caught, with another group them going clear due to the pressure applied on the front of the undulating terrain by Hot Tubes; Cormac Nagle and Alex Botha doing the damage.
They lined out the bunch on the Aillwee Caves climb on The Burren, forcing multiple splits and pulling a group clear. There was then a frantic chase after them, with the yellow jersey, McCrystal, getting involved on the front of the bunch.
Rocco Schumacher (360 Cycling), Nagle of Hot Tubes, Smith of EF Education-ONTO, Maciver of Rauland and Caleb McGreevy (Cycling Ulster) formed the group off the front at that point - a strongman's group - after that action, gaining about 30 seconds.
But with 100km completed, the reduced peloton - with Team Ireland and Halesowen having chased - caught the leaders, who had looked so strong.
Deep into the final 10km, brute force by Nagle - such an impressive rider - dragged clear a three-man group, despite the high speeds.
Lillistone - who clearly has a fantastic turn of speed to close gaps quickly - and one other got across. That swelled the numbers to five, with Lillistone winning the stage and taking the race lead.
