Newton’s law on Mamore ascent as Evans loses yellow jersey
Evans crossed the line more than five minutes after Newton had won the four man sprint for stage victory while a dejected Ciaran Power, after enduring a litany of disasters along the way, was over 16 minutes down.
And to add to the dismay of Ireland Team Manager, Frank Campbell, who set out on the fifth stage with three riders in winning positions, the third member of this trio, David O'Loughlin, who came down with a fever overnight, lost contact with the leading group at the foot of the Mamore Gap and finished with Ciaran Power.
It was the notorious Mamore ascent that decided the stage and possible the destination of the title for it is going to be difficult to dislodge Newton over the remaining three days.
After the usual early morning skirmishes the race took shape after 18 miles when Eugene Moriarty and Ray Clarke of the Meath Lee Strand Cycleways team, Daniel Spence of South Africa and Josh Beck of the USA Team Sportsbook escaped.
They were subsequently joined by a chasing group of 15 riders that included Newton, David O'Loughlin, the two Kazkhstan riders, Andrey Medyannikov and Maxim Iglinskiv, Aari Hojgaard of Denmark, who was placed second on general classification four seconds behind Tommy Evans, Paul Manning of Great Britain who won the race two years ago, and a third GB rider, Kieran Page.
They were led over the first Cat 1 climb of the day Ballagh Hill by the two Kazkhstan riders who powered their way clear and at the foot of Mamore they enjoyed a lead of 1:20 but now Newton left the group to chase them down and was joined by Hojgaard.
"If you have fresh legs and the right gear it is not too bad. I went over on 39:25. The Danish guy was overgeared," he said.
At the top he was just 20 seconds behind the two leaders and he joined them on the next climb when the Swede, Tobias Lergard, also came up. Approaching the finish it was clear that Newton was going to claim his fourth Ras stage victory and, as time ticked away, the yellow jersey as well.
With Mark Lovatt and the Dane next, Eugene Moriarty sprinted in ahead of the remnants of the leading group and wondering just what might have happened but for one bad day earlier in the week.
"To be honest, I intended to have an easy day today," he said. "But suddenly I found myself up the road again with Ray Clarke and kept going. Right now I am riding for the team prize." Runner-up on Tuesday's stage and fourth on Wednesday, he again emerged as the top County Rider in the race.
David O'Loughlin lost contact with the leading group at the foot of Mamore, Team Manager Frank Campbell admitting that it was a gamble that went wrong.
"Unfortunately our challenge is gone. We thought we had a chance with three guys up there but it did not work out.
"Ciaran Power, Andrew Donnellan and David all punctured in the first 15 miles. Ciaran and Tommy just failed to get across to the break."
Great Britain Team Manager, John Herety, who rode the Irish roads as a pro and was team manager when Great Britain won the Ras for the first time with Paul Manning two years ago, said he felt they were strong enough to hold on to the yellow jersey. Chris Newton is the current world points champion and last year he won three stages, the points jersey and finished second overall in the Ras.
Today the riders face another major obstacle at Glengesh en route to Donegal Town where the destination of this year's title should be more apparent.
Tommy Evans is still Ireland's leading contender but he is now 5:33 down in 9th position with David O'Loughlin and Ciaran Power 16:48 down.
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