Baldo leaves peloton in awe

The sinuous, switchback-laden ascent of Glengesh Pass was always destined to play a big role in this year’s An Post Rás, and by the time the riders reached the base of the climb after 100km of racing on yesterday’s stage six, it was beginning to look like there would be a new man in yellow by the finish in Killybegs yesterday.

As a three-man lead group of Frenchman Remi Sarreboubee (AVC Aix en Provence), Fredrick Johansson (UK Youth) and 2009 race winner Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport) began to tire and were reeled in as the road began to rise skywards, there was no sign of overnight leader Nicolas Baldo of the Swiss Atlas Personal team. The young Frenchman was at the back of the race, frantically making his way back up through the cavalcade having been forced to stop at the side of the road with a puncture 4km earlier.

With the help of a team-mate though, Baldo floated up through the peloton, passing the shell shocked county riders first and then some of the former race contenders before cresting the summit in a large chase group, just 20 seconds behind a new set of breakaways including Irishman Conor McConvey (An Post), Dane Lasse Hansen (Blue Water Cycling) and British pro Dave Clarke (Node4 Giordana), whose climbing prowess would see him take over as King of the Mountains by the stage end.