Worlds-bound O'Brien wins big as Rás na mBan splits to pieces | Video | Sticky Bottle

Caoimhe O'Brien, left, and race leader Mia Griffin - team mates - looked at each other unsure who got the verdict on the line at the end of Rás na mBan stage 2 into Mountrath (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan)

Caoimhe O’Brien, the Irish U23 road race champion, has celebrated her selection for the UCI World Road Championships in Zurich with victory on stage 2 of Rás na mBan, on what looked like a decisive day of action.

O'Brien may have only just about beaten Das Hutchinson Brother UK team mate, and race leader, Mia Griffin to victory in Mountrath, but the 104.5km stage was far from a battle for the sprinters.

Indeed, by the time the last of the riders rolled over the line, the general classification prospects of most were ended, by a select few have set themselves up for a real chance.

O'Brien and Griffin finished 1st and 2nd - with Abigail Millier (Tofauti Everyone Active) 3rd - at the front of a 23-rider group. And the time by gained by those strongest riders represents the first selection on the 2024 edition of Ireland's premier stage race for women.

The selection was made, as expected, on the 7.7km ascent of The Cut as DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK hit the front and turned up the pressure; defending the climbers' classification lead of Lucy Lee but also clearly looking to make gains in the general classification.

Lee didn't disappoint, as she took maximum points at the top of the climb, though the real story was the split in the field; riders scattered far back the road as a 23-rider group had formed at the front.

The gap to the next group on the road was quickly up to one minute, and then towards two. And by the time the riders reached the finishing circuit in Mountrath, it was clear nobody was coming back to the front.

As the riders crossed the line for the first time, with 39km remaining, Manon de Boer (NWVG-Uplus) took the intermediate sprint, and three seconds on offer, from eventual stage winner O'Brien and her sister, Aoife O'Brien (Team Ireland).

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The final in the lead group proved tactical, allowing some of the chasers get much closer to the 23 leaders, though they still put 1:29 into the next group on the road by the finish.

And at the finish, it was O'Brien who came off stage 1 winner Griffin's wheel to win, with the two team mates now equal on time at the top of the general classification.

Aside from O'Brien and Griffin, there were also several other Irish riders in the lead group. Aoife O'Brien and Marine Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) were there, placing 7th and 9th respectively on the stage.

Grace Reynolds, the Brother UK-OnForm rider who took silver in the road race at the National Road Championships this year, also made the front group, finishing in 14th place.

And towards the back of the group was top Irish junior rider Lucy Bénézet Minns (Team Ireland), perhaps loitering with intent for the stages still remaining.

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Irish rider Caoimhe O’Brien secured an impressive win in today’s second stage of Rás na mBan 2024, narrowly edging ahead of teammate and magenta jersey wearer Mia Griffin in a photo finish in Mountrath. ??#rasnamban pic.twitter.com/ZPwdhnD0hF

— Rás na mBan (@RasnamBan) September 5, 2024