Brilliant Bagdonas rules the Rás
David McCann (Asia Giant Kenda Cycling) won what is regarded as the most prestigious stage of the race into the seaside town of Skerries yesterday. The 2004 overall winner won in a nail-biting finish as the three minute lead he had built up en route from Kildare town was whittled down over two laps of a finishing circuit that incorporated the category 3 Black Hills climb.
In fact himself and Tobyn Horton (Britain Motorpoint) who escaped from the main field just 25 miles into the 83 mile stage were 3:10 ahead of the others crossing the finish line for the first time.
But, after dropping Horton on the first visit to the Black Hills, McCann was just 1:59 ahead next time and that lead was whittled down to 30 seconds with three kilometres remaining and the bunch had him in their sights when they entered the finishing straight for the final time but, at that time, McCann was getting ready to celebrate.
On Saturday his Giant Kenda team mate, Martyn Irvine, became the first Irish stage winner of this years race when he won the penultimate stage into Kildare. “We were on a mission from whenever I fell out of GC contention,” McCann said. “I knew I had the legs but it is a tough race for me because I am always heavily marked. I always have to do it the hard way and it was the same story for me again today.
“Part of me wanted to wait and try and race the hills on the circuit but it was a case of seeing what would happen out on the road. It was quite windy, a lot of early attacking and then myself and Tobyn Horton took off.
“I knew when I got to Skerries I had to ride the hill hard and when I looked back at the top he was gone so I pushed on by myself.”
McCann, a multiple Irish time-trial champion said he would not rule out targeting next years Olympics.
“The way the schedule is working out there might be an individual time triallist going and it would be great to get my best time trialling form going for London 2012,” he said.
Meanwhile Sean Kelly’s protégé, Gediminas Badgonas, was revelling in yellow after a relatively trouble free trip from Kildare although there were a couple of scares for him on Saturday’s 100 mile stage from Tramore to Kildare when Shane Archbold, the young New Zealander was the leader on the road at one stage.
All week Archbold had been lurking at the top of the peloton and, despite losing some time the previous day, he set out for Kildare just 2:10 off the lead — his team mate, Aaron Gate, at 1:31, looking even more dangerous on GC.
However, Archbold was caught and could not respond when Irvine and Munro attacked from the group along with Kohei Uchima (Italy D’Angelo & D’Antenucci).
Irvine, a track specialist like Archbold, got away from this trio just after Monasterevin, build up a healthy lead of 34 seconds and went on to become the first Irish stage winner of the week.
Bagdonas got another scare when he punctured but he was inside the final 3k of the race and, according to the UCI rule, was given the same time as the other riders in his group.
“It has been a tough week but I enjoyed every moment, particularly this moment,” he said as he donned the final yellow jersey of the week. “It was a good race but six days I am the leader and that’s so hard. I owe it to my team. Yesterday was very hard for my team — for me it was OK — but my team worked very hard to protect the yellow jersey.
“I just had one stage race like this before — the 2007 Olympic Tour in Holland — but there were not so many mountains. Just one day in the Ardennes I finished third overall in that race and finished in the best young riders’ jersey. This is the biggest day of my career.”
Shane Archbold of the New Zealand National Team, a world silver medallist on the track, may not have managed to reclaim the yellow jersey but was happy with his lot as he retained the green points jersey — the reward for his consistency throughout the week. His team mate, Aaron Gate, won the U23 classification.
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