Simpson sprints to stage glory in Blarney

MYRON SIMPSON of the New Zealand national team claimed yesterday’s sixth stage of the An Post Rás from Castletownbere to Blarney with a stunning sprint victory into one of the most storied towns in Irish cycling.

The 20-year-old from Auckland — who only rides on the road as training for the track (he is a member of the national team), edged out Tobyn Horton of the UK-based Team Motorpoint and Bastian Burgel of the German Thuringer Energie team in front of a huge crowd.

“I’m over the moon,” Simpson said. “It was tough out there again today. The bunch was coming and I attacked with three kilometres to go, and managed to stay away. I just put my head down but the finish kind of suited an attack like that because it was tricky.”