Sam Bennett will break new ground tomorrow when he competes in the iconic Milan-San Remo. 

One of the country’s most exciting prospects, Ryan Mullen, took the biggest road race victory of his young career when he soloed to a stunning win at the National Championships at Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath yesterday.

Jan Sokol of the Synergy Baku Cycling Project Team won stage three of the An Post Rás into Charleville, Co. Cork yesterday on a day where two of the strongest domestic Irish riders lit up the race and Kiwi Patrick Bevin retained the race leader’s yellow jersey.

When Pádraig Marrey was booted out of the An Post Rás last year along with 28 others for missing the time limit on stage three, he would have been be forgiven if he decided to call time on his 27-year racing career.

It was as easy as one, two, three for the An Post Chain Reaction team yesterday as Sam Bennett led teammates Nicholas Vereeken and Shane Archbold over the line in Skerries for a clean sweep of the podium places on the last stage of the An Post Rás.

Marcin Bialoblocki became the first rider on this year’s An Post Rás to retain the yellow jersey when he finished eighth on stage four yesterday in Glengarrif where Russian Kirrill Pozdnyakov took stage victory for the Irish-run Synergy Baku team.

Carrick-on-Suir sprinter Sam Bennett delivered the An Post Chain Reaction team’s second stage win of this year’s An Post Rás when he outgunned Dane Morten Ollegaard (Blue Water Cycling), Polish rider Marcin Bialablocki (Team UK Youth) and the rest of the peloton in a mass bunch sprint to the line at the end of stage three in Listowel yesterday.

CHRIS NEWTON, who won the overall title twice, will join last year’s champion Simon Richardson, and the 2008 winner, Stephen Gallagher, on the line for next month’s FBD Insurance Rás.

COLOMBIAN Fabio Duarte took his country’s first amateur world road race title at the U23 cycling championships in Varese, Italy, yesterday.

STEPHEN GALLAGHER (An Post/Sean Kelly/Martin Donnelly/ Grant Thornton) won the overall title and the national road race champion, David O’Loughlin (Pezula Racing), won the high-profile final stage of the FBD Insurance Rás in Skerries yesterday as Irish riders reclaimed control of Irish cycling’s showpiece.

STEPHEN GALLAGHER (An Post/Sean Kelly/Martin Donnelly) set out from Ballinamore yesterday morning hoping for a stage win, but by last night he had introduced an exciting new dimension to this year’s FBD Insurance Rás by claiming the race leader’s yellow jersey in a three-man sprint into Claremorris.

CHRIS NEWTON goes to the start line in Tallaght tomorrow defending his FBD Insurance Rás title.

CHRIS NEWTON (Recycling.co.uk) faces the most crucial and difficult stage of the FBD Insurance Ras tomorrow when the survivors head for the Wicklow Mountains, but the talented English cyclist is already poised to lift the George Plant Trophy for a second time.

ROGER AIKEN (Louth Safe Cycling), who turned 24 three days earlier, got a belated birthday present yesterday in the form of his first ever stage win as the FBD Insurance RAS got under way with an 84 mile stage from Dublin to Emyvale.