Ireland's Dillon Corkery has snatched a final day smash and grab overall victory for the ages at Rás Tailteann on Sunday afternoon.
The 24-year-old from Banteer, Co. Cork went into today's final stage in seventh overall, 19 seconds down on overnight leader Conor McGoldrick who had looked unshakeable since he took the race lead on Wednesday.
With just 133 kilometres on the agenda, and only one categorised climb, it looked improbable that Corkery could somehow get the time he needed on McGoldrick as well as the five other riders above him on the general classification.
Indeed, complicating matters somewhat was the fact his team-mate Aaron Wade was one place ahead of him overall, albeit by just one second.
But the Irish duo - under the watch of former world champion and professional rider Martyn Irvine - played it to absolute perfection by getting in the day's decisive breakaway and leaving several well-placed GC riders behind.
However, a further complication for the leaders was the presence of Cormac McGeough (Good Guys Racing) in that early breakaway. He started the day in fourth overall at 14 seconds and when they put minutes into the peloton, he was suddenly the virtual leader as the riders headed out of Monaghan en route to Blackrock, Co. Louth.
In that big move of the day were Luke Smith (Moynalty CC), Simon Ryan (Greenmount Cycling Academy) Paul Kennedy (Cycling Leinster), Cillian Murphy (Galway Bay CC), Wade and Corkery of Team Ireland, Lindsay Watson (Cycling Ulster), Finn Crockett (Derry: Foyle CC), McGeough, double stage winner Matthew Fox (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli), George Wood (Cycling Sheffield), Jack Crook (Richards Trek DAS), Ben Chilton (Halesowen Academy) and Lee Rosie (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli).
Wade, Corkery and McGeough had the most to gain by driving it on, and they spared no effort to make sure they at least had a chance to fight it out for the yellow jersey by staying clear of the peloton.
With four laps of an 11-kilometre circuit to negotiate around Blackrock it was all or nothing for Corkery who wriggled clear with Crockett, Chilton, Fox and Crook. Crucially, McGeough did not make the split and suddenly it was Corkery in the driving seat.
That quintet were clearly on another level as they surged clear and by the time they came to the line to contest the sprint they were over two minutes clear of the chasers - largely thanks to Corkery's work on the front.
Indeed, so spent was he from setting the pace that he hadn't the legs to contest the sprint, but it mattered little as he claimed the top prize in Irish cycling in some style.
Stage honours went to Crockett, with Crook and Fox second and third, respectively.
But the day belonged to Corkery who took the biggest win of his career by a distance. It rounds out a superb week for him that also saw him win a stage on Saturday and take second the day before.
For McGoldrick, it was a bittersweet few days as he fell to third, with McGeough taking second overall.
Twelve riders started the day within a minute of McGoldrick, and with just four team-mates it was always going to be difficult to control things today.
He did have some consolation by taking the Polka Dot jersey as winner of the King of the Mountains Classification, while the other jerseys were won by Conn McDunphy - Cycling Leinster (Best County Rider), Aaron Wade - Irish National Team (best U23 rider overall), Matthew Fox - Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli, (Points Jersey), Aureliusz Kluz - Louth/ Jons SCME Dimplex (best A2 rider overall) and Derek Joyce - Galway Bay CC (best A3 rider overall). Derry/Foyle CC won the County Team Prize, while Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli won the International Team award.
