The diary of a cyclist... (Thanks to James Mc Enaney)
Stage 2 of Rás Tailteann departed Horse and Jockey and continued to make its was south west, finishing today in Castleisland Co.Kerry. 155km on the cards with two categorised climbs towards the end of the stage. Groups tried to breakaway from the flag drop but with an average speed of over 50kph for the first 30 minutes, they were quickly brought back. There was two major crashes during the stage. The first as we approached Tipperary Town 40km into the race and the second at 90km, just before the first categorised climb. Between these crashes, 6 riders broke away and got a gap of 50 seconds. A 10 man chase group developed and eventually merged to form a 1:17 gap after the climb. The breakaway began attacking each other so bunch were able to bring the gap back to 50 seconds. The sting in the tail was to come at 147km when we start the cat 2 climb of Craggs cave. This is were the race exploded and gaps appeared as riders struggle to hold the wheels as we climb what can only be described gradients of over 20%. A fast decent to the finish saw the win go to British rider Louis Sutton riding for the Spanish team Brocar-Ale and by doing so takes the Yellow Jersey.
The best Moynalty Cycling Club finisher was Kingscourt man Luke Smith, who came in with the main bunch 1 minute 37 seconds after the stage winner. He now is 7th in the overall country rider standing. We did not come away unscathed in the two crashes with Shane Smith coming down in the first crash, left him requiring a bike change and chasing the bunch for over half the race. I also got brought down while in the main bunch at the second crash and required a bike change as the damage wouldn’t let me continue. Unfortunately I lost contact to the main bunch as a result. Day 3 is the longest day with 174km from Castleisland to Lisdoonvarna taking us across the Burren and up the Corkscrew Climb. With a lot of fatigue in the legs and plenty of uncategorised climbs tomorrow, it will further split up the General Classification.
Carrickmacross cyclist James Mc Enaney is competing in this year's Ras Tailteann with the Moynalty Cycling club
