By Shane Stokes
The elation of winning his first Rás Tailteann stage was plain to see on Friday, with Adam Ward yelling repeatedly as he crossed the finish line, arms aloft.
The 2018 junior road race champion, now aged 21 years, raced to success in his debut Rás, hitting the line in Lisdoonvarna two seconds ahead of Daire Feeley (Cork All Human/Velo Revolution) after the duo had infiltrated the day’s breakaway and then clipped away inside the final hour of racing.
“It means a lot, especially to win wearing the Ireland jersey,” he said at the finish. “It's always a privilege to represent the country and especially whenever you're able to perform in a race like this.
“If you look at the history of this race and you look at some of the stage winners before and you look at some of the guys who have rode this race, it means so much, especially to wear the national jersey and represent the country. It definitely means a lot.”
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Ward initially missed the day’s move but was able to get across with the help of teammate Rory Townsend.
“There was a lot of carnage on the road today, I think. I was lucky to get across to the break. The break had been established and then Rory set me up to jump across, because there was quite a big group away.
“I think nobody was really expecting the (bad) weather. Then I heard there were some crashes back in the peloton, so I was sort of glad to be out of the way. But all day it was really, really hard, the roads down here are just super grippy.”
Competing this year with the Team SmartDry-Girona Cycling City team, Ward was 59th and 44th on the opening two stages of the Rás but stepped things up a level on Friday.
“I knew very early that I was on a good day,” he explained. “I was able to get clear with Daire Feeley with around 25, 30k to go. Thankfully, I got the better of him in the sprint there.”
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The impromptu collaboration was the best possible combination, with Ward determined to take a stage and Feeley committed to chasing the yellow jersey. Both rode hard to reach the line ahead of the others who had been in the break; once there, Ward collected the stage victory and Feeley inherited the yellow jersey from overnight leader Louis Sutton (Spain Brocar-Ale).
“It would have been hard to come in the road by myself,” Ward said, referring to the category three Burren climb and the second category Corkscrew Hill, as well as the wind. “I knew I had the legs to go clear from the breakaway. Me and Daire, were up there in the GC, I think he was a best placed of the breakaway.
“I think we were both equally committed to go full gas the whole way home. Definitely it was great day out. I’m so happy.”
The day’s break clipped away inside the opening hour of racing and opened up a maximum lead of over four minutes. The gap was unexpected and so too the pattern towards the end, with the main bunch unable to get back on terms and the first rider from the main bunch, Ward’s teammate Rory Townsend, finishing one minute 34 seconds back.
It was an old-style Rás stage, different to the tightly-controlled racing which was often seen during the years the event was on the UCI calendar.
Does Ward believe the wet and windy conditions were a factor in how things played out?
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “I don't think anybody expected how hard the weather was going to make it, especially…it was quite technical today. There were a lot of blind corners with really high hedges you get down in this part of the country. So it was hard to tell what was coming around the next corner.
“Thankfully, I was prepared. Our director sportif Martyn Irvine gave us some GPX files, so I was able to look down and see what was coming up, which definitely helped.
“I think the weather played a big part. Even the wind in the rain in the middle of the stage. I think whenever it starts to rain, a lot of people can start to switch off. But I knew I was on a good day and I was thinking today I am just going to give it everything I've got.”
He did, and it paid off in spades.
In addition to his stage win, Ward is now third overall, one minute and six seconds back, and second in the under 23 rider classification. There is plenty to race for in the final two days, and both he and the Ireland National Team will be psyched to repeat Friday’s success.
