CYCLING: FBD Insurance Rás race leader Chris Newton scored an important psychological blow yesterday when he won the sixth stage, a mainly flat 160 kilometres from Abbeyleix to Rathdrum.
The GB-Recycling.co.uk rider exploded out of the bunch on the finishing climb, a steep 700-metre ascent, and carved out a five-second gap over the chasing riders by the line. It was a devastating show of force and underlined his dominance heading into today's crucial mountain stage.
Second was Norway-Sparebanken Vest rider Morten Hegreberg, with Nathan Mitchell (US TIAA CREF) and Ireland's Eugene Moriarty (Meath- Cycleways.com) next home.
Newton's closest rival, Malcolm Elliott (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital), finished a further second back in sixth, conceding more time to his rival, while the leading Irishman, Tim Barry (Tipperary-Dan Morrissey), finished 11 seconds behind the winner and dropped a place to fifth overall.
Yesterday's leg was marked by a long-distance breakaway which, as on Wednesday's fourth stage, could have ended with a win for the Irishman Tommy Evans (Yorkshire-Trinity Capital).
The 1996 Rás winner was part of a nine-man group that went clear some 55 kilometres into the race and built a two-minute lead.
Also in the break were Brian Keane (Ireland-Grant Thornton), Eddie O'Donoghue (Dublin-Team Murphy and Gunn), Kristian House (Britain-Fujibikes.com), Duncan Urquhart (Scotland), Evan Oliphant (Scotland), Stuart Gillespie (US-TIAA CREF), Kenny Williams (US-Ventilux First Mortgage) and Chris Belsham (East England Angliasport).
Fatigued after the week's racing, Newton's squad looked to be in trouble but got an unexpected dig-out from other teams. The peloton gradually started to get back on terms with the break, prompting Evans, Evan Oliphant (Wales-Stena Line) and Chris Belsham (East England Angliasport) to strike for home.
Evans attacked the other two with six kilometres remaining but had just a 15-second buffer at that point and was caught by the peloton with four kilometres left. That set the scene for Newton's third stage win of the race.
The Rás continues today, the penultimate day a tough mountain stage featuring seven climbs, including the first-category ascents of Slieveman, Sally Gap and Luggala.
Though Newton is just 14 seconds ahead of Elliott, he is confident. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow," he said. "With the climbs it will simply be down to strength, and so the best guy should come out on top."
