A special campaign is to be mounted in airports from next month aimed at cutting down on illegal cigarette smuggling, which is costing the State millions of euro in lost revenue.

It was coming for a few days and yesterday on the brutal Donegal terrain the An Post Rás was blown to pieces as overnight leader Matt Teggart lost the yellow jersey in bittersweet fashion.

Damien Shaw has been handed the onerous task of leading the An Post Chain Reaction team into battle for this year’s An Post Rás which gets underway from, Dublin Castle on Sunday week, May 21.

Two full-time working men finished in the top 30 at the An Post Rás last Sunday and not a single full-time cyclist finished in the bottom 30.

Clemens Fankhauser became just the seventh rider in Rás history to win the race more than once yesterday, the Austria Tirol man riding into sun-baked Skerries adorned in the yellow jersey he claimed last Tuesday in Dingle.

An Post Chain Reaction took their first win of the Rás so far this week with a trademark sprint from Aaron Gate as Clemens Fankheuser retained the yellow jersey by the skin of his teeth once again.

The illegal cigarette market remains a big business for criminals, according to Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS).

Clemens Fankhauser of the Austria Tirol Cycling Team scooped the biggest victory of his career in Skerries yesterday when he won the An Post Rás.

Almost 10 years to the day since Mayo’s Davy O’Loughlin claimed an incredible solo stage win atop Carrick-On-Suir’s Seskin Hill in the latter stages of the An Post Rás, Austrian powerhouse Markus Eibegger did something remarkably similar in yesterday’s gruelling journey from Clonakilty.