Video: Lithuanian strong in defense of jersey
Two stage wins in three days, the yellow jersey and leadership of the points classification; it’s been a fine haul for the Lithuanian rider Gedeminas Bagdonas thus far in the An Post Rás. Competing in a race backed by the chief sponsor of the An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly squad, the 25 year old won a 36 man sprint into Castletownbere to take stage four of the event.
He beat Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team) and Stuart Shaw (Drapac Professional) plus the others to the line. The result followed on from his stage win into Kilrush on Monday. “It was a nice race again. I like the rain; it’s my type of weather,” he said after the finish. “Today I had good luck, I tried my hardest in the sprint and I won. We will see what happens tomorrow.”
The stage began in Castleisland, ran 142 kilometres and crossed five categorised climbs. The attacks began very early on and an eight man group was clear for over 50 kilometres. This included two Irish riders, Mark Cassidy (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) and Ireland Team Skoda’s Felix English, as well as Rhys Pollock (Australia Drapac Cycling), Lachlann Norris (Australia Drapac Cycling), Romain Ramier (France AVC Aix en Provence), Jakob Steigmiller (Germany Thuringer Energie), Jose Carrasco (Greece KTM Murica) and Anatoliy Pakhtusov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental).
Hauled back prior to the Ladies’ View climb, another move went containing Mark McNally (Belgium An Post Sean Kelly), Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica), Christian Varley (Isle of Man Microgaming) and An Post Rás route designer Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath Dectek).
Benitez and McNally pushed onwards together but were eventually reeled in; approximately 30 riders then pushed onwards together on the day’s biggest climb, the first category Healy Pass. The climb itself wasn’t as decisive as expected, but on the descent Salvador Guardiola (Greece KTM Murcia) forged clear and held a decent lead heading into the final few kilometres. He was overhauled by a solo-attacking Bagdonas, but the race leader was reeled in.
Remi Sarreboubee (France AVC Aix en Provence) and Anatoliy Pakhtusov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre) then surged clear inside the final five kilometres, but they too would be hauled back before the finish.
Bagdonas was the fastest in the ensuing sprint, edging out Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team) and Stuart Shaw (Drapac Professional).Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda) was best Irishman in eighth.
Speaking after the podium presentation, An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly manager Kurt Bogaerts said that the team was prepared to ride for another of its riders in the finale, the young Irishman Sam Bennett.
“Gedeminas asked Bennett how he was feeling, but Bennett had a tough day and didn’t have it for the sprint,” said Bogaerts. “So he went for it himself and was strongest…it’s great.”
Former race winner David McCann had started the day twelfth overall but dropped to 17th and lost his chance of winning this year’s race. He crashed on the descent of the Healy Pass, had to change his bike, and lost five minutes 40 seconds.
McLaughlin has replaced him as best Irishman in twelfth place overall, and will hope to continue his progression on today’s lumpy 156 kilometre stage to Blarney. As for race leader Bagdonas, he will need to be alert, but thus far he is showing he is a very deserving holder of the An Post Rás yellow jersey.
How the action unfolded:
Soon after 167 riders lined out for the fourth stage of the An Post Rás, Romain Ramier (France AVC Aix en Provence) lit the touchpaper for an aggressive day in the saddle when he jumped clear. He was joined by KOM leader Oleksandr Sheydyk (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental), John Dempsey (Donegal LK Bikes) and Conor Murphy (Dublin Eurocycles), but they were caught soon after.
The next move was much more successful, with ten riders clipping away approximately ten kilometres after the stage. Felix English (Ireland Team Skoda), Rhys Pollock (Australia Drapac Cycling), Lachlann Norris (Australia Drapac Cycling), Mark Cassidy (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Bob Rodriguez (France AVC Aix en Provence), Romain Ramier (France AVC Aix en Provence), Jakob Steigmiller (Germany Thuringer Energie), Jose Carrasco (Greece KTM Murica), Bernardo Riccio (Italy D’Angelo & D’Antenucci) and Anatoliy Pakhtusov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) joined forces. This group was however reduced to eight when Riccio and Rodriguez crashed out at the 17 kilometre mark.
Yesterday’s stage winner Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence) and stage one victor Dean Downing (Britain Rapha Condor Sharp) tried to bridge across, joining up with Irish duo Marytn Irvine (Asia Giant Kenda Cycling Team) and David O’Loughlin (Waterford Comeragh), but they were reeled in.
After 21 kilometres of racing, the break had a 30 second gap and it continued to rise. Downing and Pete Williams (Motorpoint) were the next to try to get across but were unsuccessful. Soon afterwards, the break reached its maximum advantage of one minute ten seconds. All were working, with the exception of Cassidy; as his team-mate Gediminas Bagdonas was race leader, the Irishman had no obligation to help the break.
After 50 kilometres of racing, the move was on the outskirts of Killarney and was a minute and six seconds ahead. From that point the advantage fell rapidly, dropping to 23 seconds over the next ten kilometres. The break split a couple of minutes later, with Pollock, Norris, Cassidy and Steigmiller pushing forward and the others dropping back, but their efforts to fend off the bunch was unsuccessful and they were all caught very soon afterwards.
Seventy kilometres into the stage, Mark McNally (Belgium An Post Sean Kelly), Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica), Christian Varley (Isle of Man Microgaming) and Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath Dectek) were next to try, surging clear at the start of the Ladies’ View climb. They quickly opened a lead of over a minute on the bunch.
Maksym Vasyliev (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) and Neill Delahaye (Meath Dectek) started chasing. They were joined by yesterday’s stage winner Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence), who closed up from behind. They would go on to catch O’Sullivan, who was dropped from the break.
With gusting winds making the climb even more difficult than usual, Varley also got into difficulty and slipped off the pace. Benitez led McNally over the summit, with Varley, O’Sullivan, Vasyliev and Mihaylov taking the remaining points. The main field was one minute 30 seconds back there, and the lead increased to one minute 50 seconds with 66 kilometres remaining.
Benitez was again first to the top of the next climb, Moll’s Gap (km 78.1), and continued onwards with McNally. Varley also pressed on and picked up third place, then later waited for the chasers heading towards Kenmare (km 87). However they were caught very soon afterwards by the bunch.
A couple of kilometres later, a five man group tried its hand to chase down the leaders. Kohei Uchima (Italy D’Angelo & D’Antenucci), Rhys Pollock (Australia Drapac Cycling), Adam Semple (Australia Drapac Cycling), Ronan McLaughlin (Belgium An Post Sean Kelly) and Bastian Burgel (Germany Thuringer Energie) got clear of the peloton, and were soon joined by Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica), Peter Williams (Britain Motorpoint), Marcin Bialoblocki (Britain Motorpoint) and William Bjergfelt (Britain Motorpoint).
The move was however recognised as being a very dangerous one and was hauled back by the peloton. James McCallum (Britain Rapha Condor Sharp) and Marcin Bialoblocki (Britain Motorpoint) were next to try, and together with another rider, got across to the two leaders. They in turned were joined by 12 others, with the new 17 man lead group comprising Benitez, McNally, McCallum, Bialoblocki, English, Adam Semple (Australia Drapac Cycling), Sam Bennett (Belgium An Post Sean Kelly), Bob Rodriguez (France AVC Aix en Provence), Remi Sarreboubee (France AVC Aix en Provence), Ralf Matzka (Germany Thuringer Energie), Yuriy Agarkov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental), Simon Richardson (Britain Sigma Specialized Team), Steven Lampier (Britain Sigma Specialized Team), Peter Williams (Britain Motorpoint), William Bjergfelt (Britain Motorpoint), Tobyn Horton (Britain Motorpoint) and Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming)
Benitez beat Williams, Bialoblocki and Bjergfelt to the summit of the category three Tousist climb (km 101.9), then edged out Lampier and Wiliams on the second category climb of Knockanoughanish (km 107.7).
The group had a lead of 25 seconds heading towards the next climb, the category one Healy Pass, but was overhauled by the peloton after 112 kilometres of racing. Once onto the slopes, the expected thinning out of the main bunch took place and a group of approximately 30 riders had pulled clear halfway up.
Overnight King of the Mountains leader Oleksandr Sheydyk (Ukraine ISD Lampre) took top points ahead of Henry Frusto (Italy D’Angelo & D’Antenucci) and Salvador Guardiola (Greece KTM Murcia), and this win meant that he was able to retain his jersey by one slender point ahead of Benitez.
Battle for stage win:
That front group crossed the summit and then plunged down the other side. The descent featured at least 30 bends and this caused a couple of crashes; it also led to splits in that group. Guardiola clipped away and held a lead of several seconds with 15 kilometres to go, but he was then caught and passed by an attacking Bagdonas. The race leader was clearly feeling good, but was reeled back in by the rest of his group, which comprised approximately 15 riders. Forty seconds behind, another group with Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda), Sam Bennett (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) and others was chasing, and would manage to make it across.
Jose Carrasco (Greece KTM Murcia) clipped away before the junction and opened a lead of 20 seconds. That looked promising for him, but he was reeled in with just over five kilometres remaining.
Remi Sarreboubee (France AVC Aix en Provence) and Anatoliy Pakhtusov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre) were next to get a gap and held a lead of nine seconds inside the final three kilometres. That looked promising for them, but they too were hauled back; the result was a 36 man sprint and a thundering victory by the yellow jersey Bagdonas. He beat former race leader Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team) and Stuart Shaw (Drapac Professional) to the line, while Sean Downey was best Irishman in eighth.
Sam Bennett (12th), Tim Barry (15th), Ryan Sherlock (16th), Anthony Walsh (23rd) and Ronan McLaughlin (25th) were also there, while former race winner David McCann crashed on the descent, had to change his bike, and lost five minutes 40 seconds. He dropped to seventeenth in the general classification. McLaughlin replaced him in twelfth place and ended the day best of the Irish overall.
Other classifications:
Bagdonas’ run of form sees him four points clear of Shane Archbold in the Post Office points competition. Sheydyk holds a one point lead in the One4All Bikes4Work King of the Mountains contest, salvaging his jersey by winning the Healy Pass climb, and Aaron Gate (New Zealand) is 46 seconds ahead of Archbold in the Irish Sports Council Under 23 classification.
Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles) tops the Fitz Cycles county rider contest, while Mark Gill (South Dublin Zilcom) is top CI category 2 rider. Tim Barry (Carlow Dan Morrissey) was leading Cuchulainn county rider on the stage.
The best teams are An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly (international) and Dublin Eurocycles (county).
Tomorrow’s stage runs from Castletownbere to Blarney. It covers 156 kilometres and includes six categorised climbs.
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An Post Rás, stage 4: Castleisland – Castletownbere:
1, Gediminas Bagdonas (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) 3 hours 42 mins 59 secs
2, Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team)
3, Stuart Shaw (Australia Drapac Cycling)
4, Erwan Brenterch (France AVC Aix en Provence)
5, Bastian Burgel (Germany Thuringer Energie)
6, Dean Windsor (Britain Rapha Condor Sharp)
7, Aaron Gate (New Zealand National Team)
8, Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda)
9, Salvador Guardiola (Greece KTM Murica)
10, Jaume Rovira Pous (Greece KTM Murica)
11, Wouter Sybrandy (Britain Sigma Specialized Team)
12, Sam Bennett (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly)
13, Peter Williams (Britain Motorpoint)
14, Adam Yates (Britain Scienceinsport.com)
15, Tim Barry (Carlow Dan Morrisey Better Bld) all same time
Primes
KOM category 2 at Ladies’ View (km 73.4):
1, Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica) 10
2, Mark McNally (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) 8
3, Christian Varley (Isle of Man Microgaming) 6
4, Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath Dectek) 4
5, Maksym Vasyliev (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) 3
6, Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence) 1
KOM category 2 at Moll’s Gap (km 78.1):
1, Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica) 10
2, Mark McNally (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) 8
3, Christian Varley (Isle of Man Microgaming) 6
4, Stephen O’Sullivan (Meath Dectek) 4
5, Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence) 3
6, Neill Delahaye (Meath Dectec) 1
KOM Category 3: Tousist
1, Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica) 5pts
2, Peter Williams (Britain Motorpoint) 4
3, Marcin Bialoblocki (Britain Motorpoint)
4, William Bjergfelt (Britain Motorpoint)
KOM category 2 at Knockanoughanish (km 107.7):
1, Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica) 10
2, Steven Lampier (Britain Sigma Specialized Team) 8
3, Peter Williams (Britain Motorpoint) 6
4, Simon Richardson (Britain Sigma Specialized Team) 4
5, Marcin Bialoblocki (Britain Motorpoint) 3
6, Yuriy Agarkov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) 1
KOM Category 1: Healy Pass
1, Oleksandr Sheydyk (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) 15 pts
2, Marytn Irvine (Asia Giant Kenda Cycling Team) 12
3, Salvador Guardiola (Greece KTM Murica) 10
4, David McCann (Asia Giant Kenda Cycling Team) 8
5, Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda) 6
6, Danilo Andrenacci (Italy D’Angelo & D’Antenucci) 5
7, Floris Goesinnen (Australia Drapac Cycling) 3
Cuchulainn Crystal County Rider:
1, Tim Barry (Carlow Dan Morrisey Better Bld) 3 hours 42 mins 59 secs
2, Ryan Sherlock (Donegal Sportactive/Engraveit/)
3, Anthony Walsh (Dublin UCD) both same time
4, Conor Murphy (Dublin Eurocycles) at 5 mins 40 secs
5, Derek Finnegan (Meath Stamullen M. Donnelly) at 5 mins 54 secs
International Team:
1, Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly, 11 hours 8 mins 57 secs
2, Greece KTM Murcia
3, France AVC Aix en Provence
4, Britain Motorpoint
5, Australia Drapac Professional
County Team:
1, Donegal Sportactive Engraveit, 11 hours 26 mins 26 secs
2, Dublin Eurocycles, 11 hours 32 mins 6 secs
3, Carlow Dan Morrissey, 11 32 mins 7 secs
4, Dublin UCD, 11 hours 35 mins 29 secs
5, Meath Stamullen 11 hours 35 mins 42 secs
General Classification after 4 stages:
1, Gediminas Bagdonas (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) 16 hours 39 mins 15 secs
2, Oleksandr Sheydyk (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) at 1 min 16 secs
3, Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence) same time
4, Peter Williams (Britain Motorpoint) at 1 min 27 secs
5, Aaron Gate (New Zealand National Team) at 1 min 31 secs
6, Simon Richardson (Britain Sigma Specialized Team)
7, Floris Goesinnen (Australia Drapac Cycling) both same time
8, Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team) at 2 mins 17 secs
9, Stuart Shaw (Australia Drapac Cycling) at 2 mins 21 secs
10, Anatoliy Pakhtusov (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) same time
11, Dean Windsor (Britain Rapha Condor Sharp) at 3 mins 42 secs
12, Ronan McLaughlin (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) at 3 mins 44 secs
13, Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda) at 3 mins 48 secs
14, Bob Rodriguez (France AVC Aix en Provence)
15, James Sampson (Britain Motorpoint) , both same time
Irish Sports Council Under 23 Overall:
1, Aaron Gate (New Zealand National Team) 16 hours 40 mins 46 secs
2, Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team) at 46 secs
3, Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda) at 2 mins 17 secs
4, Bob Rodriguez (France AVC Aix en Provence) at 2 mins 17 secs
5, Sam Bennett (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) at 10 mins 25 secs
CI Category 2 Overall:
1, Mark Gill (Dublin South Dublin Zilcom) 17 hours 12 mins 55 secs
2, Christopher Coyle (Mayo Western Edge Medical Comm) at 8 mins 12 secs
3, Sean McFadden (Donegal LK Bikes) at 9 mins 5 secs
4, John Dempsey (Donegal LK Bikes) at 16 mins 34 secs
5, Ciaran Clarke (Mayo Western Edge Medical Comm) at 17 mins 53 secs
Fitz Cycles County Rider Overall:
1, Adam Armstrong (Dublin Eurocycles) 16 hours 48 mins 57 secs
2, Tim Barry (Carlow Dan Morrisey Better Bld) at 2 mins 37 secs
3, Anthony Walsh (Dublin UCD) same time
4, Derek Finnegan (Meath Stamullen M. Donnelly) at 7 mins 48 secs
5, Conor Murphy (Dublin Eurocycles) at 9 mins 10 secs
Post Office Points Classification:
1, Gediminas Bagdonas (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) 44
2, Shane Archbold (New Zealand National Team) 40
3, Stuart Shaw (Australia Drapac Cycling) 26
4, Erwan Brenterch (France AVC Aix en Provence) 25
5, Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence) 22
One4All Bikes4Work King of the Mountains:
1, Oleksandr Sheydyk (Ukraine ISD-Lampre Continental) 36
2, Javier Benitez Pomares (Greece KTM Murica) 35
3, Salvador Guardiola (Greece KTM Murica) 30
4, Mark McNally (Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) 22
5, Nikolay Mihaylov (France AVC Aix en Provence) 16
International Team Overall
1, Britain Motorpoint, 50 hours 4 mins 25 secs
2, Belgium An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly, at 48 secs
3, Australia Drapac Cycling, at 9 mins 18 secs
4, France AVC Aix en Provence, at 10 mins 22 secs
5, Britain Sigma Specialized, at 10 mins 58 secs
6, New Zealand National team, at 11 mins 34 secs
County Team Overall:
1, Dublin Eurocycles, 51 hours 8 mins 23 secs
2, Carlow Dan Morrissey, at 5 mins 49 secs
3, Mayo Western Edge Medical, at 37 mins 12 secs
4, Dublin UCD, at 45 mins 27 secs
5, Donegal Sportactive/Engraveit, at 1 hour 2 mins 5 secs
6, Meath Stamullen Martin Donnelly, at 1 hour 17 mins 42 secs