Lung Power returns for Rás favourite
All week Power — the pre-race favourite — was suffering from bronchitis but the doping controls which are being enforced rigidly in the race with daily testing meant that he could not take the medication necessary to ease his condition.
On Thursday night however, the Race Doctor, Conor McGrane, prescribed an inhaler and completed the Therapeutic Use Exemption paperwork necessary for him to be able to use it, making a huge difference.
“The doctor told it exactly as it was. All week I had been literally dying. Even though I had the strength, it was affecting my lungs which were limited and that was affecting the top end of my form — the top 10 per cent. I could not breathe for half an hour after each stage.”
Yesterday he was into the decisive break that went clear of the main field before the race had reached Drimoleague — seven miles from the start — and that would eventually go six minutes clear before the bunch began to make any inroads into the lead inside the final 30 kilometres.
The riders involved were Simon Richardson, Stephen Gallagher, Power, Cameron Jennings and Derek Burke (Pezula Racing), Christer Rake (Norway Sparebanken Vest), Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan), Paul Healion (Dublin McNally Swords), Sean Lacey (Dublin Eurocycles) and Eugene Moriarty (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC).
Paul Healion was dropped and Derek Burke punctured and it appeared as if Sean Lacey would also go out the back door when he, too, punctured, but the Kerry rider, who is a lecturer at Limerick IT, did the ride of his life to get back up and continued to contribute to the action at the front.
“I was surprised when we got a six minute lead because we were going out gradually — it was not like as if we just got one minute and then shot up to six. But everybody contributed to the break, there were no passengers — and I think that was the formula for the winning move today. Everybody worked,” Power said.
At Ballyporeen the lead was at 5 mins 2 secs and everyone at the front was doing its bit as riders attempted numerous attacks at the head of the bunch. The gap began to close but the leaders were never going to be caught with Richardson leader on the road by 11 seconds from Gallagher and Power moving ever closer to the top of GC.
“At last night’s team meeting I said I thought I’d feel better now that I got the inhaler and suggested we get a couple of riders in the break and that obviously one rider was going to have to sacrifice himself,” Power said. “The last 20k I did not ride as hard as I had been riding previously and I just made up my mind I was going to win the stage rather going for GC.
“Looking at the GC it is possible to win the overall and I am not going to give up. I was two minutes down this morning so I am closer to the front. If someone told me that setting out today I would have been pretty happy.”
Stephen Gallagher is happy to be right back up in contention after losing the yellow jersey to his team mate Mark Cassidy earlier in the week. Cassidy crashed out of the race the following day.
“We knew we had to do something today to start making time back up again,” he said. “Yesterday was a day when our team had to regroup misfortune and see what was going on. When Mark (Cassidy) crashed it was a bit of a shock to us.”
Former mountainbiker Simon Richardson, who won the stage into Skibbereen, is in a yellow jersey for the first time in his career and is not concerned about today’s first category climbs that have to be negotiated in the Wicklow Mountains en route to Roundwood.
