Kimber claims Rás Tailteann title by narrowest of margins from Jamie Meehan

Josh Charlton claimed the final stage. 

BY GEORGE: George Kimber riding for the Isle of Man team celebrates victory with his teammates after crossing the finish line. Pic: Lorraine O’Sullivan

Stage 5 of Rás Tailteann 2025 brought the curtain down on a dramatic and high-speed week of racing, with the final 142.8km from Kildare Town to Bective offering a fitting finale. 

The day belonged to Josh Charlton (Great Britain CT), who stormed clear to take the stage win, but it was George Kimber (Cycling Club Isle of Man) who emerged victorious in the general classification, claiming the Bective Stud Yellow Jersey and the title of Rás Tailteann champion.

Ireland's Jamie Meehan and Odhrán Doogan took second and third place overall.

The stage began at a furious pace with a group of four riders quickly going clear.

The quartet of Cameron McLaren, Dean Harvey, Daire Feeley and Patrick O'Loughlin opened up a gap of over a minute in the early kilometres despite wet and greasy road conditions. Behind them, the bunch remained cautious, with the yellow jersey George Kimber sitting deep in the peloton.

As the race passed through Longwood, Feeley began to assert himself, clearly aiming to claw back his deficit on the general classification. By the time the riders reached Trim, he had gone clear with Harvey, and soon after, the break swelled to 14 riders including key names such as Mark Downey, Tom Martin, Ronan O’Connor, and Josh Charlton sitting 32 seconds off yellow at the start of the day, spent significant time on the front and was the virtual leader on the road with three laps of the Bective circuit to go. The final Category 3 KOM at Quarry Hill saw Gilsenan take max points ahead of Feeley, O’Connor and Pritchard.

The peloton, led by UCD and Ride Revolution, began to close the gap, and attacks began to fly as riders sensed the final opportunity to alter the general classification.

With just over 10km to go, Odhrán Doogan (77 – Cycling Ulster) launched a late solo move in a final bid to take yellow. However, Kimber remained calm, backed by his remaining teammates, and managed to control the margin to secure overall victory by five seconds.

At the front, Josh Charlton had timed his move to perfection, sprinting clear of the reduced front group to take a fine stage win in Bective.