An Post Rás 2015 Stage 4

photo credits @ Twitter

Aidis Kruopis (An Post Chain Reaction) won a dramatic eight-man sprint finish, to claim stage 4 of this year’s An Post Rás in Newport, Co Mayo today, after narrowly beating Davide Vingano (Team IDEA) during the final run-in to the finish. 

Meanwhile, Lukas Postlberger (Tirol Cycling Team) retained his grip on the overall race lead, with Joshua Edmondson An Post Chain Reaction) trailing behind him in second at 1’05 back. 

Today’s 155 kilometer stage took riders from Bearna in Galway to Newport. 

Race Highlights

An early break containing Dominic Jelfs (Madison Genesis) and Eric Johnstone (Canada) set the tone for the day but they were soon joined by Ian Bibby (NFTO) and Alessandro Pettiti (Team IDEA 2010 ASD).

However, Clemens Fankhauser (Hrinkow Advarics Cycleangteam), Jeremy Durrin (Neon Velo Cycling Team), Christopher Reilly (Down Nth Graham Powerhouse Sport), Stephen Murray (Cork Strata3/Velorevolution RT) and David Watson (Down Nth Graham Powerhouse Sport) were determined not to allow the leaders to get too far ahead and pushed hard to bridge the gap.

From there, the nine-man group formed the lead, up until the 41km mark where they merged with another 13 riders.

However, at one point, the groups became fragmented, with a lot of stop-start racing and nobody able to ride clear.

Ronan McLaughlin (Cork Aquablue) made a number of attacks including a brave move accompanied by Jimmy Janssens (Team 3M), which extended out to nearly two minutes at its peak.

However, coming into the final 50km the chasing group reeled them in.

Approaching Westport and with only 10km to go there was a lead group of eight including last year’s Rás winner Fankhauser (Hrinkow Advarics), who rode superbly today but just ran out of steam in the final straight.

Cheers from the crowd, encouraged Kruopis to really put his foot down to propel himself across the line and claim the stage victory for An Post Chain Reaction Team.

“We had a plan today and everything went really well,” he said afterwards. “We got the stage victory and we are delighted, we move up in the GC and also claim the young rider’s jersey so it’s really good”.

Lukas Postlberger (Tirol Cycling Team) retains the yellow jersey and points jersey, with Down’s Martyn Irvine 1’43 behind him in third in general classification after both finished in the eight-man bunch.

Ryan Mullen (An Post) leapfrogs Jaap De Mann (Team 3M) to claim the U23 Jersey. Best County Rider (Ian Richardson) and King of the Mountains (Robert Partridge) remain unchanged.

Top 20 Finishers

1 7 LTU Kruopis,Aidis SKT An Post Chain Reaction 3h45’29″
2 65 ITA Vigano,Davide IDE Team IDEA 2010 ASD 3h45’29″
3 31 GBR Bibby,Ian NPC NFTO 3h45’29″
4 39 IRL Irvine,Martyn MGT Madison Genesis 3h45’29″
5 12 AUT Postlberger,Lukas TIR Tirol Cycling Team 3h45’29″
6 8 GBR Edmondson,Joshua SKT An Post Chain Reaction 3h45’29″
7 6 IRL Mullen,Ryan SKT An Post Chain Reaction 3h45’29″
8 1 AUT Fankhauser,Clemens HAC Hrinkow Advarics Cycling Team 3h45’44″ @15″
9 38 GBR Rowsell,Erick MGT Madison Genesis 3h46’16″ @47″
10 32 GBR Partridge,Robert NPC NFTO 3h46’16″ @ s/t
11 10 NZL Gate,Aaron SKT An Post Chain Reaction 3h46’16″ @ s/t
12 70 NZL Frame,Alex NZL NEW ZEALAND National Team 3h46’16″ @ s/t
13 41 GBR Cuming,Michael JLT JLT Condor 3h46’16″ @ s/t
14 27 BEL Janssens,Jimmy MMM Team 3M 3h46’16″ @ s/t
15 28 GBR Porter,Elliott MMM Team 3M 3h46’16″ @ s/t
16 87 IRL McLaughlin,Ronan aqa CORK Aquablue 3h46’21″ @52″
17 55 CAN Johnstone,Eric CAN CANADA National Team 3h49’47″ @04’18″
18 62 ITA Pettiti,Alessandro IDE Team IDEA 2010 ASD 3h49’47″ @ s/t
19 58 FRA L’Hermitte,Benjamin Team Pays De Dinan 3h49’49″ @04’20″
20 159 IRL Kelly,Robin tke MAYO Coleman Electronics – T.K.E 3h49’49″ @ s/t

General Classification 

1 12 AUT Postlberger,Lukas TIR Tirol Cycling Team 14h46’13″
2 8 GBR Edmondson,Joshua SKT An Post Chain Reaction 14h47’18″ @01’05″
3 39 IRL Irvine,Martyn MGT Madison Genesis 14h47’56″ @01’43″
4 6 IRL Mullen,Ryan SKT An Post Chain Reaction 14h48’02″ @01’49″
5 41 GBR Cuming,Michael JLT JLT Condor 14h48’03″ @01’50″
6 28 GBR Porter,Elliott MMM Team 3M 14h48’05″ @01’52″
7 38 GBR Rowsell,Erick MGT Madison Genesis 14h48’05″ = s/t
8 32 GBR Partridge,Robert NPC NFTO 14h49’23″ @03’10″
9 10 NZL Gate,Aaron SKT An Post Chain Reaction 14h50’48″ @04’35″
10 26 NED de Man,Jaap MMM Team 3M 14h51’37″ @05’24″
11 107 IRL Richardson,Ian ucd DUBLIN UCD 14h51’38″ @05’25″
12 2 AUT Benetseder,Josef HAC Hrinkow Advarics Cycling Team 14h51’38″ = s/t
13 1 AUT Fankhauser,Clemens HAC Hrinkow Advarics Cycling Team 14h53’15″ @07’02″
14 7 LTU Kruopis,Aidis SKT An Post Chain Reaction 14h53’45″ @07’32″
15 70 NZL Frame,Alex NZL NEW ZEALAND National Team 14h53’47″ @07’34″
16 30 BEL Steurs,Christophe MMM Team 3M 14h53’49″ @07’36″
17 27 BEL Janssens,Jimmy MMM Team 3M 14h53’50″ @07’37″
18 31 GBR Bibby,Ian NPC NFTO 14h54’14″ @08’01″
19 57 FRA Journiaux,Axel Team Pays De Dinan 14h55’40″ @09’27″
20 11 AUT Schipflinger,Florian TIR Tirol Cycling Team 14h55’40″ = s/t