IRISH CHAMPION STRIKES FIRST BLOW IN FBD MILK RAS.
by Gerard Cromwell
While there may have been fireworks in Dublin last night for the delayed St.Patricks Day celebrations, the FBD Milk Ras produced it's own fireworks today as the 190 riders made their way to Ballaghadreen on stage one. It took a long time for the decisive eleven man breakaway group to light the fuse and stir a simmering bunch into action. Indeed it was over halfway through the stage before this group went clear. The constant high speed, undulating roads and fear of being trapped in the bunch and losing a lot of time ,all contributing factors.
The first Hot Spot Sprint at Delvin was taken by the evergreen Phil Cassidy of the Meath Cycleways team, from last year's winner Julian Winn and Cassidy's teammate Aiden Crowley. Cassidy was now virtual leader on the road, by way of the three second time bonus. By the second sprint at Edgeworthstown, Stephen O'Sullivan of the Derry Classic Walls NCBI team attacked to take the sprint and encourage a little group including teamate Brian Kenneally, Germany's Dirk Reichl, David McCann (Ireland), and Robert Koj of Poland to go clear.
This attack seemed to stir the peleton into action and by Longford (58 miles) an eleven man group had gone clear. In it were Anthony Malarczyk of Wales, Pole Kryzystof Zasada (Legia Bazilysek), Australian David McKenzie (Fisconseils), Englishman Chris Young (York), Canadian Pete Wedge (Jet Fuel Coffee), German Dirk Reichl (Telekom), and Irish riders Paddy Moriarty (Dublin Skip), Richie Cahill (Cork Triton/Ventilux), Phil Cassidy (Meath Cycleways), and David McCann and Aiden Duff of the Ireland Shannon Oaks Hotel team.
By Strokestown and the third Hot Spot sprint, won by Reichl, this group had a lead of 2 minutes and 25 seconds over the main field. The big loser looked to be Julian Winn of Wales, but with a teammate in the break last year's victor could do nothing to help the chase. The Great Britain team too had missed the boat and with Chris Newton in commanding enough form to be tipped as a possible winner of the race, set about reeling the breakaway in. They had help from Mark lovatt and Kevin Dawson of Southend and with the breakaways starting to tire, the gap was coming down. By the second KOM, won by Reichl again, the gap had been closed to just over a minute and with just sixteen miles of racing left the front group were starting to worry. With 10 kilometres to go, the gap was down to 53 seconds and the break were attacking each other. Zasada frm Poland was the first to go, when he was caught, McKenzie attacked and so went the chain of attacks for the next few kilometres.
With four kilometres to go, Duff (Ireland), Moriarty (Dublin Skip), McKenzie (Fisconseils) and Zasada (Legia) looked to have snapped the elastic only to be reeled in after two kilometres. This was where Irish champion David McCann seized his oportunity and jumped on a slight incline. McCann put his head down and hoped for the best. His best earned him a well deserved stage victory and the first yellow jersey of race leadership of this year's FBD Milk Ras. The rest of the group were swallowed up by the main field six seconds behind McCann, with David Kopp of Telekom benefiting from a good leadout to take second.
After the stage McCann said he was "Over the moon. I was really surprised. I've been really heavily sick last week. I haven't been on my bike since the Tour of Slovenia, so it's a big surprise for me really." The CCC-Mat professional was surprised at how quickly the gap opened. "There was a break of eleven guys, so it meant that a lot of teams missed it, so I couldn't believe we got almost three minutes and I knew there had to be some reaction. When it did come it was astounding, because we had three minutes and it just came down on us like a ton of bricks. I think I only had three seconds at the end so , yeah it was close!"
David McKenzie of Fisconseils wasn't too worried by todays events. "It was good. I was lucky enough to get into the break, but we were unlucky to get caught in the end. The legs were a bit tired at the end but I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. A few guys stopped riding near the end , but that's normal tactics and the Irishman (McCann) took advantage of that. They had two guys in the break so they just attacked and counter-attacked, so it worked out well for them. Hopefully when we get to the hard hills my legs will feel a bit better. I'm just hoping to try and keep myself up there on GC and be in with a shout near thend of the week."
Philip Cassidy (Meath Cycleways) wasn't too surprised at the break being brought back. "The gap went up too quickly and with the South Africans and some of the other teams missing the break, I knew we could be caught. The run-in was fairly flat and suited the bunch. I just rode through. I was a bit leggy after working all day yesterday, but it's early days yet and we'll see how it goes. I'll enjoy it anyway."
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The best form of defence is attack in this race!" David McCann on wheter he will defend his yellow jersey tomorrow.
Return to FBD MILK RÁS opening page