English
Stage 3
Another day dawns and opening the curtains reveals a nice, bright sunny morning, with patchy clouds low in the sky. Instead of my cheap alarm clock waking me up, which I have had for years, the sound of the church bells ringing 7 times pleasantly replaces the dull tones of the alarm and on hearing the bells it reminds me that I have jobs to do and staying in bed means they won’t get done. So while the others were sleeping, or just lying in bed reading their books, I got changed and started to tidy up the van ready for the days driving. I checked the van over for any punctures, leaks (water/oil) and more importantly the fuel level.
After checking over the van I checked out the time of breakfast with the staff and also picked up the laundry, which I sorted out when we arrived at the hotel after the event yesterday. After collecting the clothing and paying the manager the 8 euro’s we owed him I then took the lot to the guys who promptly sorted all of it out. Once the riders were ready, the whole team strolled into the breakfast area and reflected on the previous days racing over slices of toast or bowls of cereals.
As the start of today’s stage was in Cobh and just down the hill from the hotel, I had no reason to drive down to the race HQ for today and get involved with searching for a car park space with all the other vehicles, so therefore I decided that it would be far easier for me to leave and start my long drive too Cahirciveen, on the Ring of Kerry, when the riders left to sign on.
The journey I took travelling to Cahirciveen was by large the same route as the race. During the first part of the trip I stopped twice, once for petrol and the other for food. Once at the junction with the R569 on the N22, the race turns left entering the Ring of Kerry where the riders faced a tough road with numerous small climbs and one large climb, known as The Coomakista, which has a category of 1 in the KOM rankings. Not taking this left turn meant that I carried on along the N22 to a town known as Killarney passing the Killarney National Park, a beautiful area with high mountain tops and deep, rich green forest ideal for walkers or MTB riders.
From Killarney it was then a short drive to Killorglin, which I have visited before in 2007 as I took over a team of four riders to the Ras Mumhan, a four day stage race based around the Ring of Kerry and the town of Killorglin. Once in Killorglin I then drove through Glenbeigh stopping once at the Loisderrig B&B to confirm that we will be arriving on Thursday and that I would be dropping off the luggage tomorrow morning instead of later in the afternoon. I’ll explain why in the next report from the Ras.
After the chat with Maureen, it was then a drive to Cahirciveen and finally into Portmagee. Portmagee is a small, yet picturesque village opposite Valentia Island with a coastline on the Dingle Bay. Two other teams, East Midlands and Trek Marco Polo, are also staying with us in Portmagee staying in the Moorings Guest House which is situated next to the bridge linking Valentia Island to the mainland. As usual, once the rooms were signed for and the luggage dropped off it was then a short 15 minute drive back into Cahirciveen parking up in the team vehicle car park and preparing the race food for the riders when they finished. The menu for the riders is a simple one and consists mainly of ham and cheese rolls, figs, small cakes (without cream though) and recovery drinks.
The food is left in the van, but when taking the walk to the finish area inside the barriers I usually take a small bag, which contains 5 cans of coke and a plenty of figs rolls or chocolate bars if the weather is cold or it has been a wet day. You would be amazed at what the riders crave for straight after the race and having something other than gels goes down very well. I find that bread rolls are a success all the time as well as coke (cans that is).
Over the race radio I could hear the news coming in that multiple tour winner – Jaan Kirsipuu – was in a break containing three other riders. This did look like a good move for Jaan as the riders had a very strong tailwind for the last 10kms and the speed would be extremely high, which Jaan would be used to as he has won plenty of stages in the Tour De France.
This could be Jaan’s first stage victory in the Ras, but Chris would not give up so easily nor the two Irish riders. Jaan, and the other 3, had escaped from a group of 15 or 16 riders over the last climb of the day and worked very hard to stay away until the end. The last 1 km rolled over a flattish road and the last 200 metres the road reared up very slightly, but as these four riders came into view this slight rise did nothing to dampen the incredible speed these four guys were achieving as they crossed the line.
The victory went to Jann Kirsipuu with Newton a close second. McCann crossed over in third spot with Kenneally claiming fourth spot @04”. Stage winner from the first stage, Niko Eeckhout, rolled over in 5th spot @51” down with Russ Downing and Laurent Diber claiming 6th and 7th respectively. A further 5 riders, including a local Surrey League rider Wouter Sybrandy racing for Sigma Sport, then came across the line before the rest of the remnants of the bunch, led by yesterday’s stage winner, Ian Wilkinson of Halfords Bike Hut @1’49”
Ian remains in yellow going into the 4th stage with Simon Richardson (Rapha Condor) @19” behind and Mads Christensen (Designa Kokken) in third spot @3’08” behind the yellow jersey. During a stage race though anything can happen and with possibly the hardest day tomorrow (Wednesday) going over the Conar Pass the top three could all change.
Once the riders were all together it then remained for us to pack up the van and drive to Portmagee where Ray could clean the bikes, the riders could relax and Keith and myself, after replacing John Veness’s punctured tub with a new tub (punctured within the first 2 km of the stage), sort out the laundry and other team issues.
Another great day, but we are not yet half way through the Ras.