The yellow jersey at the front of the field chasing down the breakaway before he would be claimed by his own effort (Photo: Paul Warriner)
After three stages and with just one road race remaining at the Spar Omagh Three Day, the battle of the yellow jersey remains very open, with the top 20 separated by just 20 seconds.
And because the stage 1 road race on Friday evening and stage 3 road race this afternoon, Saturday, ended in bunch sprints, the short time trial stage 2 this morning has been key to the general classification.
Friday evening's 70km stage came down to a big bunch sprint, with Robbie Silcock of Island Wheelers CC getting the verdict from Gavin Corey of Harps and Marc Andrews of Emyvale CC.
This morning, Saturday, in the time trial it was Christopher Birney of Team Sportactive who had too much for the others over 4km.
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He took the win by just over 5 seconds from Lorcan Healy (Unattached), with Steve Watty (North Down CC) just four tenths of a second further back in third.
The ride of the day went to Eileen Burns of Bann Valley Road Club who scorched home in 4th place, 7.9 seconds off the stage winner.
And just under one second behind her was Adam Leach of North Down CC, rounding out the top five in the test.
Jim Eastwood of Harps looking delighted at his strong victory on stage 3 of the Spar Omagh Three Day this afternoon (Photo with thanks to Omagh Wheelers)
Going into this afternoon's road stage starting and finishing in Omagh, Sportactive's Birney had the yellow jersey by 4 seconds from North Down's Watty, with Corey of Harps 3rd on the same time and Healy two seconds further back.
The flying Byrnes was 5th overall; the Bann Valley Road Club rider just eight seconds off the yellow jersey.
The sprint finish on this afternoon’s 78km stage disguised the drama that unfolded out the road, with the yellow jersey changing hands despite a 56-rider peloton arriving at the finish intact.
Ryan Wallace (Ballymoney CC), Tiit Talumaa (Unattached), Steven Watty (North Down CC), Alan Campbell (North West CC) and Lorcan Healy (Unattached) forged clear and built a lead of 1½ minutes.
With Watty 2nd overall at just four seconds and Wallace, Healy and Campbell all in the top eight overall – covered by just 10 seconds – the chase after them was intense.
The women in the field were given a five-minute handicap and while they were caught by the escape in the second half of the stage, they jumped in with them for a time.
Eileen Burns of Bann Valley Road Club on her way to 4th in this morning's TT. She has been the rider of the weekend so far (Photo with thanks to Omagh Wheelers)
However, as the bunch edged closer to the leaders, Wallace took off on his own and built a gap, staying clear for about five miles.
The move was finally neutralised just before the finish, but not before yellow jersey Birney was dropped by the main field.
He was to lose 43 seconds, perhaps paying the price for his efforts when he saw his yellow jersey threatened by the breakaway.
In the end it was Jim Eastwood of Harps who stormed home for the win just ahead of the bunch, with one second to spare on Gareth Peden of Ballymoney and Les Brown of Phoenix rounding out the top three.
It meant Watty took yellow from Birney and holds that equal on time with Ballymoney's Wallace with just tomorrow’s road stage remaining.
Corey is just one second back in 3rd, with Healy in 4th just two seconds off yellow and Campbell 5th on the same time.
Eileen Burns is now 7th overall thanks to her amazing ride in the time trial.
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Sat, Aug 8th: Stage 2, Omagh TT (4.02km)
1 Birney,Christropher Team Sportactive 5m20.61s
2 Healy,Lorcan Un-Attached @5.42s
3 Watty,Steven North Down CC @5.81s
4 Burns,Eileen Bann Valley R C @7.92s
5 Leach,Adam North Down CC @8.76s
6 Wallace,Ryan Ballymoney CC @9.00s
7 Guy,Darren St Tiernans @10.10s
8 Scullion,Raphael Spires CC @10.24s
9 Corey,Gavin Harps @10.85s
10 Brown,Les Phoenix CC @11.02s
11 Logue,Kieran Omagh Wheelers A @11.23s
12 Campbell,Alan North West CC @12.43s
13 Mc Niell,Shane Glens CC @14.97s
14 Evans,Graeme Spires CC @15.28s
15 Ferriter,Eoin Ratoath Wheelers @15.71s
16 Murphy,Stephen St Tiernans @17.02s
17 Mort,Vincent Glens CC @17.46s
18 Conway-Kenny,Jack St Tiernans @18.54s
19 McFarland,Gareth Clogher Valley @19.86s
20 Gaffney,Bryan Sheelin Flyers CC @20.16s
General Classification after stage 2
1 Birney,Christropher Team Sportactive 1h52m54s
2 Watty,Steven North Down CC 1h52m58s @4s
3 Corey,Gavin Harps 1h52m58s @s/t
4 Healy,Lorcan Un-Attached 1h53m00s @6s
5 Burns,Eileen Bann Valley R C 1h53m02s @8s
6 Leach,Adam North Down CC 1h53m03s @9s
7 Wallace,Ryan Ballymoney CC 1h53m03s @s/t
8 Campbell,Alan North West CC 1h53m04s @10s
9 Guy,Darren St Tiernans 1h53m04s @s/t
10 Brown,Les Phoenix CC 1h53m05s @11s
11 Logue,Kieran Omagh Wheelers A 1h53m05s @s/t
12 Mc Niell,Shane Glens CC 1h53m09s @15s
13 Evans,Graeme Spires CC 1h53m09s @s/t
14 Ferriter,Eoin Ratoath Wheelers 1h53m10s @16s
15 Murphy,Stephen St Tiernans 1h53m11s @17s
16 Mort,Vincent Glens CC 1h53m12s @18s
17 Andrews,Marc Emyvale CC 1h53m12s @s/t
18 McFarland,Gareth Clogher Valley 1h53m14s @20s
19 Gaffney,Bryan Sheelin Flyers CC 1h53m14s @s/t
20 Farrell,Enda Longford C & R 1h53m15s @21s
Sat, Aug 8th: Stage 3, Omagh-Omagh (78.4km)
1 Eastwood,Jim Harps 1h59m15s
2 Peden,Gareth Ballymoney CC @1s
3 Brown,Les Phoenix CC
4 Mullan,Darryl Carn Wheelers
5 Devlin,Conor Island Wheelers CC
6 Rainey,Garry East Tyrone CC
7 Mc Niell,Shane Glens CC
8 Bradley,Martin North West CC
9 Evans,Graeme Spires CC
10 O'Connor,Dermot Square Wheels CC
11 McCann,Mark Harps
12 Donnelly,Ciaran Termon Wheelers
13 Andrews,Marc Emyvale CC
14 Morris,Niall Phoenix CC
15 Guy,Darren St Tiernans
16 Lavery,Alan Un-Attached
17 Grimmes,Barry Clann Eireann
18 Lockhart,Dean Carn Wheelers
19 Talumaa,Tiit Un-Attached
20 Murphy,Stephen St Tiernans
General Classification after stage 3
1 Watty,Steven North Down CC 3h52m13s
2 Wallace,Ryan Ballymoney CC 3h52m13s @s/t
3 Corey,Gavin Harps 3h52m14s @1s
4 Healy,Lorcan Un-Attached 3h52m15s @2s
5 Campbell,Alan North West CC 3h52m15s @s/t
6 Brown,Les Phoenix CC 3h52m17s @4s
7 Burns,Eileen Bann Valley R C 3h52m18s @5s
8 Leach,Adam North Down CC 3h52m19s @6s
9 Guy,Darren St Tiernans 3h52m20s @7s
10 Mc Niell,Shane Glens CC 3h52m25s @12s
11 Evans,Graeme Spires CC 3h52m25s @s/t
12 Ferriter,Eoin Ratoath Wheelers 3h52m26s @13s
13 Andrews,Marc Emyvale CC 3h52m26s @s/t
14 Murphy,Stephen St Tiernans 3h52m27s @14s
15 McFarland,Gareth Clogher Valley 3h52m30s @17s
16 Gaffney,Bryan Sheelin Flyers CC 3h52m30s @s/t
17 Farrell,Enda Longford C & R 3h52m31s @18s
18 Brady,Aidan Longford C & R 3h52m31s @s/t
19 O'Connor,Dermot Square Wheels CC 3h52m33s @20s
20 Boylan,Kenny Lakeland CC 3h52m33s @s/t
Women's Classification
1 Burns,Eileen 3h52m18s
2 Russell,Judith @20s
3 Oakes,sinnead @52s
4 McGurk,Mairead @10m46s
5 Shannon,Alwynne @12m09s
6 Kennedy,Sinead @14m37s
Climbers' Classification
1 Leach,Adam 12
2 Birney,Christropher 5
3 Healy,Lorcan 5
4 McLaughlin,Thomas 4
5 Watty,Steven 3
6 Wallace,Ryan 2
Sprints Classification
1 Campbell,Alan 16
2 Wallace,Ryan 12
3 Eastwood,Jim 6
4 Silcock,Robbie 6
5 Bradley,Noel 6
6 Watty,Steven 6
Combativity Classification
1 Healy,Lorcan 6
2 Lavery,Alan 6
3 Wallace,Ryan 4
4 Campbell,Alan 2
5 Birney,Christropher 2
Team Classification
1 Ratoath Wheelers 11h37m38s
2 North West CC @10s
3 Ballymoney CC @14s
4 Phoenix CC @16s
5 Harps @19s
6 Carn Wheelers @55s
7 Longford C & R @1m41s
8 Emyvale CC @1m45s
9 Glens CC @2m12s
10 North Down CC @3m34s
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