Odhrán Doogan retains yellow jersey as Tim Shoreman wins Rás Tailteann third stage
Odhrán Doogan successfully defended his yellow jersey on a tense, tough third stage of the Rás Tailteann on Friday, retaining his three-second advantage over closest rival Matteo Cigala.
The Cycling Ulster rider came under repeated attack and had a nervous time when a powerful 15-man break went clear just over 20km into the stage to Miltown Malbay.
The move spelt danger, containing riders such as the 2022 Rás winner Daire Feeley (Burren CC), last year's runner-up Conn McDunphy (Team Skyline) and George Kimber (Cycling Club Isle of Man), who was for a long time the race leader on the road when the group maintained a gap of around one minute.
However Doogan and others finally returned to the front after about 100km of hard chasing, making the junction to the last remaining breakaway rider Dean Harvey (Team Ireland) approximately 40km from the finish.
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Stage one winner Tim Shoreman (UK: Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) was fastest in the final sprint, beating Cigala (Carlow: Dan Morrissey Pissei), Sebastian Brenes (Mexico: Canel's Java) and Matthew Teggart (Banbridge CC Specsavers), the first Irish rider home. Doogan finished the stage in 10th.
'I was definitely nervous,' Doogan said after finishing the stage in 10th, referring to the moment he learned who was out front. 'But I knew the guys up the road had a big, hard day ahead of them. I knew I just couldn't let them get a big gap. So me and my team were able to control it.'
Indeed, after the junction was made Doogan was strong enough to attack with approximately 11km to go, but this was reeled in, as was a solo move by George Peden (Team PB Performance), who was briefly race leader on the road.
McDunphy is next best of the Irish in fifth overall, and although he crashed inside the final kilometre, he was given the same time as the bunch as per UCI rules.
'Coming into the line I fancied my chances for the sprint,' said McDunphy. 'To be honest, maybe not to beat Shoreman but I reckon I could have gone top five there, but a bit of a gearing issue caused me to hit the deck.'
He also fell close to the finish on the opening day and while he has been able to continue, his sleep has been affected by the extensive skin grazes he has on his back. However, he pledged to keep trying.
Saturday's penultimate stage from Ennis offers an opportunity for aggressive riders, with the category one Wolftrap climb summiting just 14km from the finish line in Mountrath.
So too Sunday's concluder from Kildare town to Bective, with McDunphy, Feeley and others all pledging to continue their attacks.
Doogan and the Cycling Ulster team will keep fighting. He said on Wednesday that he didn't expect to contend for the general classification, but still finds himself still in a yellow jersey which he hadn't anticipated.
'I changed my ambitions. I'm going to try to keep it for as long as I can,' he said.
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