Local rider Willem O'Connor went close to a win on stage two of the Rás Tailteann on Thursday, finishing behind the day’s victor Tim Shoreman in a high speed sprint to the line in Banteer.
O’Connor, who is from Crookstown, just 45km from the finish, said he was inspired by that local knowledge and put in a big effort to try to land what would have been his first stage victory in the race.
British rider Shoreman is one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton and scooped three stages in recent years, making things very difficult for O’Connor in the sprint.
However the Cork: O’Leary Stone Kanturk rider has the considerable consolation of leaping to third overall and taking over the best young rider jersey.
"It feels amazing to win another stage of the Rás," said Shoreman, part of the UK: Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team. "That’s why I came here, to try to win. I wanted to win yesterday and take yellow but it didn’t end up happening. It is nice to go the next day and do that."
He is known primarily as a sprinter but wasn’t surprised to be in contention on what was the longest and second-hilliest stage of the race.
"I am often fairly good at the end of a long day. But I am glad that it wasn’t much more hilly than it was. When we went on that final long climb and no one was really able to pull I knew that I had good legs and that I had a good chance of winning the stage because no one else seemed to be super strong."
British rider Adam Lewis of the USA: APS Pro Cycling team also made it into the key move, which pushed forward from a bigger 12 man group inside the final 10km of the stage. He took over in the yellow jersey.
"I said yesterday that it always pays to be aggressive in this race and what we did in the last hour of the race today was aggressive," he said. "Eventually the elastic snapped with about 35K to go and we got a good group away. It kind of split in half again coming to the finish here.
"Luckily I was on the right side of it and managed to gap the other GC guys, so into the lead."
His Irish teammate Conn McDunphy was also present and his work helped him gain time over the three breakaway riders Lewis had been with on Wednesday’s opening stage. McDunphy sprinted to third on the stage behind Shoreman and O’Connor.
Lewis now holds a 34 seconds advantage over Shoreman heading into Friday’s 155.6km stage from Mitchelstown to Enniscorthy.
O’Connor is at 42 seconds, with McDunphy two seconds further back in fifth.
"I am from Crookstown, we actually cycled through there today on the stage," O’Connor said of his near miss for the stage win. "I really, really wanted to win today. But in fairness to Tim [Shoreman] and Wheelbase, they rode it perfectly. Tim is a really hard guy to beat in a sprint like that. They worked very well together. I think second is the best I could have gotten today, and I am pretty happy."
Also on the attack was Daire Feeley (Clare: Burren CC), the 2022 race winner. He went clear with 10 others prior to the second category climb of Caha Pass, with fellow Irishmen Liam Crowley (Ireland: Team Ireland), Ronan McLaghlin (Foyle CC), Matthew Walls (APS Pro Cycling), Evan Keane (Pinergy Orwell) and Ruairí Byrne (UCD Cycling Club), as well as the visitors Archie Peet (UK: O’Neills Spirit Racing), Tijs Dekker (Netherlands: West Frisia) and Karl Hall (Germany: Hucare Factory Team) all present.
Feeley then made it into the later 12-man breakaway, but missed the crucial split inside the final 10km. He finished in a chase group 47 seconds back but vowed to try again.
The race continues on Friday with a mostly flat 155.6km stage from Mitchelstown to Enniscorthy.
Stage 2, Rathmore to Banteer:
1 Tim Shoreman (UK: Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) 192.7km in 4hrs 9mins 12secs
2 Willem O’Connor (Cork: O’Leary Stone Kanturk) at 1"
3 Conn McDunphy (USA: APS Pro Cycling)
4 Adam Lewis (USA: APS Pro Cycling) both same time
5 Joshua Dike (Spain: Natural Greatness Rali Ale) at 4"
6 Tom Martin (UK: Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) at 7"
7 Niek Hoornsman (Netherlands: West Frisia) at 46"
8 Matteo Cigala (Carlow: Dan Morrissey) at 47"
9 Zach Walker (IOM: Cycling Club Isle of Man)
10 Tadhg Killeen (Cycling Leinster)
