Griffin dons yellow jersey

PAUL GRIFFIN (Earl of Desmond) will don the race leader’s yellow jersey with a miniscule time advantage of .18 of a second over fellow Kerry cyclist Eugene Moriarty (Cycleways.com) when Killorglin Credit Union Rás Mumhan enters the final day that will decide the overall title over three laps of the 15-mile Beaufort circuit followed by four laps of the 13-mile Donal McKenna Circuit.

David McCann, guesting for the Earl of Desmond team, sprinted into Caherciveen, the town where he actually took control of last year's FBD Insurance RAS before going on to win the title, to win yesterday afternoon's 60m Skellig Ring Stage to complete a double.

McCann had an expected emphatic victory in the early morning 10km time trial from Beaufort to Killorglin. And with his own chance of overall victory having evaporated on the first day, he set out yesterday to defend the slender lead which team-mate Paul Griffin had snatched from former winner Eugene Moriarty that morning when he finished third in the time trial 42 seconds behind McCann, with Moriarty less than two-tenths of a second back in fourth place.

The longest day began with drama when overnight leader Brian Keane (Leinster Cycling Federation) arrived at the time trial a minute and 55 seconds late for his start. The Corkman then rode an excellent time trial and, were it not for the time penalty he would have gone into the afternoon stage wearing the yellow jersey and possibly poised for overall victory.

At the end of the day he was bitterly disappointed and so were those who had watched his performances over Friday's opening stage in which he finished second and Saturday's Connor Pass stage in which he claimed the yellow jersey. Unfortunately for him the Leinster Cycling Federation squad did not have a team manager. He had finished fourth on the 94-mile Conor Pass stage.

That stage was won in spectacular fashion by the manager of the Athens Olympic team, Martin O'Loughlin, (Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers) who won the this particular stage in 2001. This time he got across to the breakaway group that had formed on the big climb, joined by Eugene Moriarty from Listowel riding for Cycleways.com who is also a previous winner of this stage.

This pair would eventually fight out the see-saw finish into Killorglin that also involved Simon Kelly (Cycling Connacht) but the Carrick man launched a final attack on the climb to the finish for his third stage win.

After the drama of the time trial, yesterday afternoon's stage around the Skellig Ring was going to be critical for those poised at the top of the general classification sheet with time bonuses available at the finish.

It was with those bonuses in mind that McCann launched his attack on the third climb at Cill Urlaí. He was joined by Rory Wyley (Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers) and they stayed away for the remaining 30 miles with Denis Lynch (Kanturk Credit Union), Martin O'Loughlin, Warrick Spence (Surrey League) and Sean Lacey (Earl of Desmond) merging to form the chasing group some 40 seconds down with four more at 1:02 and the main bunch at 1:20.

"I was watching the bonus for Paul (Griffin). We did not want Eugene (Moriarty) to get the bonus time," McCann explained after winning the two man sprint for stage victory before a huge crowd in Caherciveen.

"It was tough out there and the rain made it more difficult. But I like Caherciveen. This is where I won the Rás last year."

"The bonus was going to be very important and, on paper, Eugene (Moriarty) was the sprinter," Paul Griffin admitted. "But I contested the KOM primes just to be on the safe side and I think I have that category won now. The plan was for David to get up the road and Rory went with him. It worked."