Sean McKenna claims Rás Mumhan title

Páidi O’Brien made it three wins from four at the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan yesterday when he blasted to glory on the fourth stage of the race but it was Sean McKenna who took overall glory.

The Osbourne Meats/McCarthy Cycles UK man edged out the pair of Dillon Byrne (Champions Systems) and JLT-Condor’s Ed Laverack at the end of the 115-kilometre stage.

The result was not enough to see any change in the overall as Sean McKenna of the Irish National Team retained the race leader’s yellow jersey.

McKenna sowed the seeds for his win on Saturday when he finished second on the stage to Waterville behind Bryan McCrystal of Team ASEA.

That result was enough to put the latter into yellow starting yesterday’s second stage, a mere 11 seconds off the leader’s jersey.

And with three of McChrystal’s teammates within 52 seconds of the lead, it was no surprise to see them very active through the stage.

McChrystal was the most likely to usurp McKenna of the jersey while Roger Aiken, Ali MacAuley and Damien Shaw were all well-poised.

But McKenna was coolness personified yesterday, with the help of a superb team in seasoned campaigner Martyn Irvine, Sean Hahessy, Daniel Stewart, Matt Taggart and Conor Hennebry.

Yesterday’s action brought to a close a cracking four days of racing where the jersey changed hands twice and was in the balance right up until the end.

For McKenna, it’s the biggest win of his career as not only did he claim the yellow jersey but also the mountains and the U23 classification as well, courtesy of Saturday’s ride.

Twelve months ago, it was not so sweet for the CC Aquablue man lost the yellow jersey on the Sunday and would never get it back.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” he said.

“This is the best day of my cycling career and the weekend could not have gone any better. I’ve had great support all-through the race from my team and I cannot thank them enough. They were an inspiration how they rode at the front for me today.”

For stage winner O’Brien it was an equally satisfying weekend.

“It’s brilliant for me and for my team that we could have such an impact on a race like this.”