The fastest man on Earth on a bike, Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia - HTC, has won the second stage of the Tour of Ireland from Clonmel to Killarney, writes Tadhg Peavoy.
Cavendish won the 196km stage in his usual manner of a bunch sprint.
Briton Cavendish was followed over the line by Rabobank’s Michael van Staeyen, with veteran Stuart O’Grady of Team Saxo Bank in third.
Belgian Steven van Vooren of the An Post Sean Kelly Team was over the line in fifth for the best placed finish of an Irish team rider.
An Post Sean Kelly Team’s Mark Cassidy gave a stupendous ride for a large part of the race – he was part of a two-man break with Dennis van Winden of the Rabobank team which led the race almost from the starting line.
Van Winden dropped Cassidy on the ascent to the second category climb of Musheramore and from then on the Irishman dropped steadily down the field.
The General Classification does not change with Russell Downing leading the race overall with a five second lead over Alexander Kolobnev of Team Saxo Bank. His Saxo Bank comrade Matti Breschel of Denmark is third and retains the Young Rider jersey.
Norwegian Alexander Kristoff of Joker Bianchi takes the overall Points lead, while Australian Matt Wilson of Team Type 1 has snatched control of the King of the Mountains lead, which he won overall in 2008.
Action commenced quickly on day two of the Tour of Ireland with Cassidy and van Winden making a break right from the outset and held out to claim the first sprint at Ardfinnan, with Cassidy taking maximum points.
The leading duo managed to establish a six minute lead after Ardfinnan, making van Winden the virtual leader of the Tour and putting pressure on the pack to reel him in at some point.
At the top of the first climb of the day, the category two The Vee, the two men had built a lead of 7 minutes 37 seconds. Van Winden crossed the summit in first, with Cassidy second. The hero of the first day, combative Jay Thomson of MTN Energade, came over third.
The lead pair sensed a chance to make a name for themselves and pushed the lead right out to 14 minutes. At this point, the peloton had put down 57km and was heading toward Fermoy.
The second An Post sprint took place at Castletownroche and at this stage van Winden was beginning to get the jump on Cassidy. The flying Dutchman took the sprint, with Cassidy second. Irishman Philip Deignan managed to outsprint the peloton for third.
Cassidy was now just a single point off the Points jersey lead. He needed third place at Millstreet and then to finish ahead of Downing at the finish in Killarney.
At the halfway point of 98km the breakaway pair held a lead of 10 minutes 25 seconds. Things weren’t going so well for David Fletcher of Team Halfords – he was in the broom wagon.
As we approached the category two climb at Musheramore at 133km, the dynamic of the race began to change irrevocably. Astana hit the front of the peloton and began to peg back the leading duo. The gap was reduced to 6 minutes 57 seconds.
Here van Winden made a dash for it, dropping Cassidy on the ascent. On the way down the other side of the hill, van Winden had a two minute lead. An Post Sean Kelly Team Niko Eeckhout abandoned here; the climb just too much for the veteran Belgian.
Cassidy did hold on to second going over the summit at Musheramore, with Matt Wilson, last year’s King of the Mountains taking third place, adding crucial points in his hunt to retain his jersey this year.
Jay Thomson was fourth adding more points to his impressive ride in the Tour overall.
Van Winden took maximum points at the sprint at Millstreet followed by Cassidy, Andrey Grivko of ISD – Neri and Jason McCartney of Team Saxo Bank.
Cassidy, meanwhile, was swallowed up at the base of the Curragh. Van Winden – on his last legs at this stage – was all but out of steam, but still managed to secure the Curragh points in the only category one of the day.
Wilson took more precious points here in second place over the hill.
Van Winden had an admirable lead of 4 minutes 10 seconds whittled down to 2 minutes 9 seconds with 25km to go.
He was always going to be caught in such a crazy breakaway, but he gave it all and this ride could earn him a Pro Tour contract next year.
His 170km lead out front came to an end with around 18km to go. The peloton, travelling at an average speed of 45km, hunted him down without mercy.
With 10km remaining, the peloton were reaching average speeds of 60 to 70 km per hour. Team Columbia began to move to the front of the pack in a bid to place their famous sprinter Cavendish in a position to pounce.
And pounce he did, powering ahead at the business end the race and taking first across the line in County Kerry.
Tomorrow’s racing brings the Tour 185km from Bantry to Cork City for the grand finale.
RESULTS:
Stage 2 Result: Clonmel to Killarney.
1 Mark Cavendish (GBR) Team Columbia – HTC 5h07’33”
2 Michael van Staeyen (BEL) Rabobank 5h07’33”
3 Stuart O’Grady (AUS) Team Saxo Bank 5h’07m33”
4 Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Joker Bianchi 5h07’33”
5 Steven van Vooren (BEL) An Post Sean Kelly Team 5h07’33”
General Classification:
1 Russell Downing (GBR) Candi TV – Marshalls Pasta 10h18’00”
2 Alexander Kolobnev (RUS) Team Saxo Bank 10h18’05” +05”
3 Matti Breschel (DEN) Team Saxo Bank 10h18’07” +07”
Points Competition:
1 Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Joker Bianchi 18 pts
2 Russell Downing (GBR) 15 pts
3 Mark Cavendish (GBR) 15 pts
Mountains Competition:
1 Matt Wilson (AUS) Team Type 39 pts
2 Dennis van Winden (NED) Rabobank 35 pts
3 Jay Thomson (RSA) MTN – Energade 27 pts
Young Rider Competition:
1 Matti Breschel (DEN) Team Saxo Bank 10h18’07”
2 Frederik Wilman (NOR) Joker Bianchi +4”
3 Jacob Fuglsang (DEN) Team Saxo Bank +10”
