Kieran Page yesterday became only the third rider to lead the Junior Tour from start to finish. The English 17-year-old, who won Tuesday's opening 4km time trial up Howth Head, finally ended the 259-mile race with a four-second advantage over Holland's Freek Folle, with Folle's team-mate Norbert Poels third and Tim Cassidy best of the Irish in fourth place.
As expected, Saturday's 57.2 mile mountainous stage in Roundwood proved one of the most decisive of the event, loosening the stranglehold the Britain team had on the race. Frenchman Mickael Sarkissian went clear towards the finish and held on to become the first non-British rider to win a stage.
Yesterday's stage was largely a bunch affair, with any breakaway attempts being snaffled up before the finish in Blessington.
On this occasion, normal service was resumed and the dominant Britain team took their fifth win in six stages. James Bell outsprinted the Ireland Stena Line trio of Colin Armstrong, Michael Dennehy and Tim Cassidy to the line, leaving Dennehy's mountains jersey and Cassidy's fourth place overall as some consolation for those in the green jerseys.
And Page? Two stage wins and the overall classification bring his tally this season to over 50 victories, placing him alongside Aidan Duff and Mark Scanlon as the only riders to lead from start to finish.
Elsewhere, David McCann and Tommy Evans continue to ride well in the Tour of Guadeloupe. Evans held the leader's yellow jersey for two stages early on in the 10-stage race and currently lies fourth overall, while Olympics-bound McCann won the eighth stage by over one minute.
Brian Kenneally, meanwhile, won the 50-mile national time trial title with a storming ride of one hour 49 minutes 21 seconds for the test, which is within two minutes of the all-time record of specialist Philip Collins. Promising young rider Paul Healion was second, a further 21 seconds in arrears.
