CYCLING:Two days left and the battle continues. Canadian rider Dominique Rollin took the sixth stage of the FBD Insurance Rás yesterday, sprinting home at the head of a 14-man breakaway group on the steep uphill finish in Derry.
He jumped away from the others with about a kilometre remaining, got a gap and held off Marcel Barth (Germany Thuringer Energie), young Irishman Mark Cassidy (Ireland Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly Seán Kelly) and the rest to take his second stage of the race.
Race leader Tony Martin and closest challengers Páidí O'Brien (Ireland Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly Seán Kelly) and Jesse Anthony (US Kodak Gallery Sierra Nevada) all missed the move but remain to the fore in the general classification, although Peter McDonald (Australia FRF Couriers) does move ahead of Anthony into third place.
He, Rollin, Irish riders Cassidy, Stephen Gallagher (Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly Seán Kelly), Brian Kenneally (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC), best county rider Isaac Speirs (Dublin Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group) plus eight others went clear in the first half of the short 96-kilometre stage.
Martin's team and several others tried to haul them back but left it too late.
As a result of the time gained, McDonald, Rollin and Cassidy move up to third, fifth and sixth overall and are all within striking distance of Martin heading into today's penultimate stage.
O'Brien (17 seconds back) and Cassidy (44 seconds) are chief Irish hopes for an overall win but Gallagher, Kenneally and David McCann (Ireland Subway Eat Fresh) are also in the top 10, between one 1' 15 and 1' 35 back.
"I think I could perhaps have got second on the stage but an American rider let a gap open around the last corner and I lost a bit of ground," said Cassidy, son of double FBD Rás winner Philip Cassidy. "We are really motivated to ride here. We have three guys in the top 10 and everyone is playing off each other. We are really racing well and are in the contention for the win. There are still two stages left so we will keep riding aggressively."
Martin is looking strong but must watch a lot of riders in the final two stages. O'Brien, Cassidy and the others will be hoping that this plays to their advantage, but so too former race winner Anthony and Rollin. Former double winner Chris Newton (Britain Stena Line Recycling.co.uk) is also in the mix, sitting 1' 02 back in seventh overall.
The race continues today with a 165-kilometre stage from Derry to Newcastle. Tomorrow's final leg to Skerries could well be the big decider, though, with six category three climbs littering the 174 kilometre route.
Italy's Marzio Bruseghin beat the favourites in the 13th-stage individual mountain time trial at the Giro d'Italia yesterday. The 32-year-old Lampre team rider set a time of 28 minutes 55 seconds for the 12.6-km test from Biella up to the Oropa sanctuary, beating compatriot Leonardo Piepoli by one second. Italy's Danilo Di Luca finished third, eight seconds slower, and retained the overall race lead.
