Paradise lost. After leading the FBD Milk Ras since Tuesday evening, Irish rider David O'Loughlin slipped out of the yellow jersey yesterday, wilting under the pressure of a concerted effort applied by Welshman Julian Winn and the England ProVision Powerbar team.
The sixth stage from Kenmare to Mitchelstown proved to be one of the most influential of the race, with the first four riders sliding down the general classification and a number of other prerace favourites suffering.
Relegated to a supporting role on the day's action, O'Loughlin, the Swede Kristoffer Ingeby and Eugene Moriarty finished in a chasing group over four minutes behind winner David McCann and the other stage aggressors, and slipped to fifth, sixth and seventh place overall respectively.
Aidan Duff, who was fourth overall but tipped by many as a possible winner of the race, suffered a broken chain at a crucial moment and trailed in 16 minutes and 11 seconds down. There was even greater disappointment for last year's winner Philip Cassidy (who lost over 24 minutes) and Stage Two winner Brian Kenneally, who withdrew with a shoulder injury.
It was that kind of stage - eight riders clear and utter chaos behind. The damage began after just 10 miles of action, when the race hit the category two slopes of the Inchee mountain and riders began being jettisoned out of the back of the bunch at a disturbing rate. Up front, the pressure applied by Paddy Moriarty, Tommy Evans, Ray Clarke, David McCann, Julian Winn and his team-mates John Tanner, Wayne Randle and Mark Lovatt, had yellow jersey O'Loughlin in trouble.
Speeding down the descent and onto the road to Macroom, the 50-odd riders in O'Loughlin's group were already over a minute behind. The deficit continued to grow over the dauntingly steep first category Musheramore, where an exhausted Clarke slipped back, and McCann took both the prime and the mountains jersey.
From there to the finish in Mitchelstown it was akin to a team time-trial, with Lovatt, Randle, Tanner and Winn riding flat out for long stretches and extending their lead to close on four minutes with 20 miles to go. Forget the stage, forget the three Irish riders who were contributing little to the pace; all the focus was on reclaiming time lost during the week.
Given the effort, it was little surprise to see McCann shoot clear in the closing stages to cross the line, alone, six seconds ahead of Evans and an impressive Lovatt. "It was a case of the strongest riders being away today," said the 1996 Olympian, resplendent in the green jersey of points leader. "The foreign guys were doing all the work, I was doing some turns at the front but also was thinking about the stage."
"It has been a funny race so far. I have been up there most days but lost a bit of time on others. It is definitely possible for me to win; this is the sort of race where anything can happen."
Both McCann and Winn were in agreement about who the greatest threat is. "Wayne Randle is the one I am most concerned about," stated Winn, who reclaimed the yellow jersey after losing it on the second stage. "I have a bit of time on him now, though, so I hope it works out in my favour. The next few stages are going to be interesting."
