AARON GATE WAS today’s winner of stage six of the An Post Rás, the An Post Chain Reaction team rider taking victory before a huge crowd in Dungarvan.
It wasn’t enough to see him move up the general classification but the Kiwi rider is well poised in fifth overall, five seconds behind yellow jersey wearer Clemens Fankheuser.
The Austria Tirol Cycling team rider crossed the line in the same bunch as Gate, meaning he lost no time to those closest him and goes into tomorrow’s penultimate stage holding a two second lead over Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) while Ireland’s Damien Shaw is in third.
Best of the Irish today was Chris McGlinchey of the national team and he took a fine eighth in his debut.
It was a good day for his team-mates too who all finished in the main bunch which numbered no more than 40.
One of his team-mates, Eddie Dunbar, lit up the stage with a trademark long-distance escape after going clear from the gun in Clonakilty.
The 19-year old Corkman is making his debut in the race and just six weeks after breaking his collar bone in a crash near his home in Banteer, it was quite a performance.
He surged clear and quickly opened a 20-second lead on the bunch who seemed happy to let him go, despite the fact he started the day just 19 seconds down overall.
Indeed, with such a long stage ahead to Dungarvan it was an unlikely move but when former Irish junior international Daire Feeley (iTap) and New Zealand’s Dylan Kennett joined, the move was given added impetus.
Mark Dowling (ASEA-Wheelworx) tried to bridge but he left it too late and by himself it was always going to be difficult and he was mopped up by the bunch by the 40-kilometre mark.
The gap between the three leaders and the peloton swelled to 4’30” minutes at its maximum but after 100 kilometres, Kennett lost contact and it was just Dunbar and Feeley out front.
With the gap holding at four minutes, the team of race leader Fankheuser sparked into life and they injected some acceleration into the chase, as too did Madison Genesis in an effort to bring Holmes as close to the front of the race as possible.
That acceleration split the bunch and cresting the final climb of the day it was all back together as Dunbar and Feeley’s efforts amounted to nought.
Dunbar was the virtual leader at one point but with so many riders well-placed on general classification it was little surprising to see him pegged back.
A nervy finale followed but there was time for a big move to go clear and in it were three riders also well up on general classification, those being Josh Edmondson (NFTO), James Gullen (Pedal Heaven) as well as Sunday’s stage winner Taco van der Hoorn (Join-S De Rijke).
Van der Hoorn only needed six seconds to take yellow, Gullen needed eight and Edmondson needed 17 and though they had 40 seconds on the bunch with 15 kilometres to go, a fast finish ensured a bunch sprint which Gate won in emphatic fashion.
Tomorrow’s stage sees the riders tackle a 155-kilometre stage from Dungarvan to Baltinglass and there are four categorised climbs, including the category one ascent of Mount Leinster after 106 kilometres.
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