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FBD Rás, Ireland - Stage 4, 5, 6 · 30/05/10

In Ireland, Rapha Condor Sharp have been in good form with all members of the team showing well over recent stages. With two riders in the top 10 overall, the run of form shows no sign of abating any time soon.

Stage 4:

With RCS rider Dan Craven in yellow at the start of the day, it looked on paper like an innocuous sort of stage where defending the jersey would be a straightforward matter for the boys in black. However, a seemingly harmless move snuck away early with the teams of riders 1-7 on GC somehow missing the escape of Swede, Alexander Wetterhall, 8th on GC at 16 seconds.

With no race radios to enable the team cars to raise the alarm, the break was able to gain nearly 6 minutes lead before Rapha Condor Sharp and latterly the AN Post team took up the chase. With a concerted effort the gap was closed to nearly 2 minutes by the end of the stage, the yellow jersey lost for now, but not out of reach before the end of the race. Also, with Jonathan Tiernan Locke making the front group along with Wetterhall and stage winner Maximillan May, he jumped up the overall standings to 19th, giving the team more cards to play over the coming stages.

Stage 5:

With a mountain top finish at Seskin Hill this was always going to be one of the stages where time could be won or lost. Knowing that this was a potentially crucial stage, team manager Phil West ordered the team to be vigilant, ensuring that at least one of the GC riders was present in any move of significance, which is exactly what happened as Ben Greenwood and Jon Tiernan Locke both made the first big split of the day.

Staying out front and building a lead of 2 minutes with 20km to go, this 20 man move would undoubtedly provide the winner of the days stage and as they hit the bottom of the climb to the finish it was Jon Tiernan Locke who set the pace, shedding his opponents one by one to arrive at the finish alone, taking Rapha Condor Sharp’s second win of the race and catapulting JTL up to 7th on GC.

Stage 6:

Featuring seven categorised climbs on the road between Carrick and Gorey, this stage certainly had the potential to put pressure on the yellow jersey of Wetterhall and that’s exactly what the Rapha Condor Sharp team set out to do.

As the race tackled the only category 1 climb of the day, a 20 man group broke clear that included Dan Craven. Over the subsequent kilometres he tried to break clear on a number of occasions but the riders around him were either unable or unwilling to support him in his efforts to gain time.

Eventually Dan’s persistence paid off as he got away with about 30km to go in the company of German rider John Degenkolb, a double stage winner at the Tour of Brittany and a former world U23 medalist. The two worked well together all the way to the finish to build a lead of 50 seconds that enabled Dan Craven to move up to 5th on GC, just 1m32s away from the yellow jersey he held earlier in the race. Degenkolb took the sprint to win the stage.



Photos by Gianni Ponzi

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