Talk about doing it the hard way. Winning any edition of the An Post Rás is impressive, but 2014 victor Clemens Fankhauser really earned the plaudits this time around.
The Austrian crashed heavily on day two, spending many hours in hospital before getting the all clear. Visibly in pain for days afterwards, he nonetheless took over the lead on stage three. He then held yellow in a race that is notoriously difficult to defend, maintaining control over a cluster of rivals who lurked just seconds away and who repeatedly went on the attack.
"The first one was the first stage race I won in my career so it was really special to me," he told The Irish Times yesterday in Skerries. "This time, about 20 riders were very close to me, and we had a lot of trouble this week controlling the bunch. After all this work it really means so much to me to win it again."
Precarious lead
Fankhauser went into Saturday’s hilly stage to Baltinglass with a very precarious lead. A pair of rivals were two seconds adrift, including Irish road race champion Damien Shaw (An Post Chain Reaction), while five others were within ten seconds. Six more were less than 20 seconds back.
However, on the category one climb of Mount Leinster Fankhauser answered the attacks and then went clear with four others. Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar won the final sprint and jumped ten places to fourth overall. But Fankhauser was the day’s other success story, cutting the list of challengers down to Jai Hindley and Lucas Hamilton (both Australia National Team) plus Dunbar.
He and his team then kept tabs on these three on Sunday’s last stage, controlling all attacks including a final lap surge by Dunbar.
The day’s big break went early and included home riders Conor Dunne (Britain JLT Condor p/b Mavic), Ronan McLaughlin (Ireland National Team), Bryan McCrystal (Louth Asea Wheelworx) and Marc Potts (Britain Neon Velo) plus Craig Evers (Australia Data #3 Cisco Racing Team) and Rob Partridge (Britain NFTO Pro Cycling).
These built a lead of well over two minutes but were hauled back within the final nine kilometres. Stage two winner Nicolai Brochner (Denmark Riwal Platform) then won the bunch gallop to the line, edging out Taco van der Hoom (Netherlands Join-S De Rijke), Emiel Wastyn and Aaron Gate (both Ireland An Post Chain Reaction).
Matteo Cigala (Cork Aquablue) and Dunbar were best of the Irish in ninth and 10th.
Margin of victory
Fankhauser’s presence in that bunch ensured he secured his second overall title. His margin of victory was three seconds over Hindley and 13 up on Hamilton, and rewarded a very tenacious campaign.
As for Dunbar, he was 19 seconds back in fourth and further underlines that he has world-class potential.
He broke his collarbone less than five weeks before the race start yet was one of the best in the field. He’ll now turn his attention to riding the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic on June 5th.
Two others who will be on the team are Ian Richardson and Eoin Morton. The UCD Fitz Cycles duo both had a very successful Rás, with Richardson taking his second consecutive best county rider award and Morton winning stage two.
Both said on Sunday that their performances had answered those who questioned their place on the Philadelphia team.
