Shortly after winning the opening stage of the FBD Milk Rás on Sunday, Chris Newton said that he had little intention of defending his yellow jersey. "I am here for stage wins," he said, "the overall does not bother me that much."
Yesterday's fourth stage of the race proved that such talk was purely a diversionary tactic as the Great Britain rider went all out to try to take back the race lead seized by Ciarán Power on Tuesday. Newton launched a massive attack against the Team Ireland Stena Line rider on the foothills of the Healy Pass, the day's final climb, and eventually reached the finish in Castletownbere 39 seconds ahead of his main rival.
It was a small gain, but a valuable confidence booster. Four stages remain in this race and the rebellious showing proves that Newton and his team will go all out to try to prevent an Irish victory.
Their chances got a boost before the flag dropped yesterday in Killorglin. The second-placed rider overall, David O'Loughlin, was forced to pull out of the race due to food poisoning. The Mayo Connacht Gold cyclist was, after Power, the best hope for an Irish win.
Yesterday's 107-mile trip around the Ring of Kerry was the first real mountain leg of this race. The first significant break of the day occurred one hour into the stage when a group of 10 joined together up the road and began to pull away from the main bunch. Newton had two team-mates in the break, Steve Cummings and Tim Buckle, while other dangermen included Danish rider Ari Hojgaard and Huw Pritchard.
Paddy Moriarty punctured while bridging to the escape group, so Richie Cahill and Power's team-mate Paul Griffin were the sole Irish riders present.
The Team Ireland Stena Line team - in particular Tommy Evans - limited the gain to around one minute, controlling the race for Power, but the yellow jersey was briefly caught napping when Newton and several others raced clear before the start of the Healy Pass. Power closed the gap, but Newton jumped clear again with 11 others just as the Irishman had problems with his chain.
Forty seconds clear going over the summit, the dozen leaders sped down the corkscrew descent and raced flat out towards the finish.
Behind, Power combined with the Lancashire Compensation Group squad and Surrey's Gethin Butler to hold that gap to the line, where he finished weary but relieved.
Second in the sprint for stage honours behind Andrew Randell, Newton was bullish. "I could have won today if I had a clear run to the line - the barriers jutted out near the finish and I had to back off. Gaining time on the yellow jersey was the big priority, though, and I am pretty happy with how things went," he said.
Power was defiant: "I think we are strong enough to keep the jersey until the finish on Sunday."
Italian cyclist Gilberto Simoni has tested positive for cocaine metabolites, which he blamed on a trip to the dentist, his Saeco team said yesterday.
"We're sure it's an accident," team manager Claudio Corti told reporters. "Gilberto has never taken cocaine. He had treatment at the dentist and that is what was found."
