CYCLING NEWS:FINALLY, THE golden fleece. The Seán Kelly team was launched in 2006 in order to develop up and coming Irish cycling talent, and since that time one of the squad's ambitions was success in the FBD Insurance Rás.
Last year it went close with three second places on stages plus second overall, courtesy of Paídi O'Brien, but it was not until yesterday that the An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Seán Kelly team got to stand on the very top step of the podium.
Richill cyclist Stephen Gallagher was the one to achieve the milestone, finishing third behind Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) and Evan Oliphant (Britain Plowman Craven) into Claremorris but, crucially, taking over the yellow jersey of race leadership.
Gallagher had started the day ninth overall, seven seconds behind stage one winner Ken Hanson (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan). However, he was one of 14 riders who got into a crucial move after 100 kilometres of racing, and opened significant time over a disorganised main field. His team-mate, Mark Cassidy, was also there, as was Roger Aiken (Ireland national team).
Gallagher, Downing and Oliphant then pushed on ahead inside the final 10 kilometres, fighting it out for the stage win between them.
At that point hitting the line first was a secondary concern for the Gallagher, as he knew that the yellow jersey was up for grabs.
As long as he could prevent Downing or Oliphant from recouping their two-second deficit to him, the race lead would be his.
"It is obviously very important for me and the team," he said after the stage. "To get the yellow jersey in the Rás is very prestigious, it is something that every Irish rider aspires to do."
In recent years, Gallagher has had more than his share of frustrations due to illness and injury and so he's taking a lot of satisfaction from riding well again.
And while he accepts that it's too early in the Rás to think about winning, he points out that the team has five good riders and is in a strong position now.
The stage was very aggressive early on and Downing had a tough time coming back after a puncture.
However, he returned to the 57-man front group, made it into the smaller 14-man move and finally got into the crucial three-man break, taking a stage win in his first FBD Rás.
"We went quite hard, all three of us - Stephen was going for the yellow jersey and myself and Evan were going for the stage, so it worked out perfect in the end," he said.
Others will be not so happy. The main bunch finished one minute and 29 seconds back, and this means that a number of big riders now have a tough task in trying to win the race.
These include Hanson, as well as Irish hopes David McCann (Ireland national team), Ciarán Power and David O'Loughlin (Team Pezula), plus Paídi O'Brien (Ireland An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Seán Kelly).
Foreign riders who missed out included past race winners Chris Newton, Kristian House (both Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) and Andrew Roche (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan), as well as several other strong contenders.
The net result is likely to be a very aggressive day's racing today on the 133 kilometres to Lisdoonvarna.
The first category climb of Doonagore peaks just eight kilometres from the end, ensuring that the peloton will be very fragmented when it hits the finish line this evening.
FBD INSURANCE RÁS(stage two, Ballinamore-Claremorris): 1, Dean Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 167 kilometres in 3 hours 55 mins 48 secs; 2, E. Oliphant (Britain Plowman Craven) at 1 sec; 3, S. Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) same time; 4, M. Cassidy (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 4 secs; 5, M. Grashev (Bulgaria Nessebar) at 8 secs.
KING OF THE MOUNTAINS(category 3 at Slieve Gamph, 92.7 kilometres): 1, Alex Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) 5 pts; 2, S. Mostafa Razaei Khormizi (Iran Islamic Azad University) 4 pts; 3, J. Dabrowski (Poland) 3 pts
OVERALL:1, Stephen Gallagher (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 7 hours 2 mins 19 secs; 2, D. Downing (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) at 1 sec; 3, E. Oliphant (Britain Plowman Craven) at 2 secs; 4, M. Cassidy (Ireland An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 5 secs; 5, J. Dabrowski (Poland) at 7 secs; 6, R. Pioline (France Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur) at 9 secs; 7, M. Grashev (Bulgaria Nessebar); 8, R. Partridge (Britain Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) both same time; 9, A. Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) at 10 secs; 10, H. Nybo (Norway Sparebanken Vest) at 12 secs; 11, S. Aubert (France Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur) same time; 12, A. Bye (Britain Surry Racing League) at 22 secs; 13, K. Page (Ireland Pezula Racing) same time; 14, R. Aiken (Ireland national team) at 24 secs; 15, K. Hanson (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan) at 1 min 20 secs
POINTS:1, Dean Downing (Stena Line Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) 26 points; 2, R. Pioline (France Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur) 18; 3, K. Hanson (Isle of Man Microgaming Dolan) 15; 4, E. Oliphant (Britain Plowman Craven) 14; 5, P. Kos (Netherlands) 14.
MOUNTAINS:1, Jaroslaw Dabrowski (Poland) 8 points; 2, A. Higham (Britain Plowman Craven) 5; 3, N. Delahaye (Dublin IRC Usher Insulations) 5.
CYCLING IRELAND CATEGORY TWO:1, Shane Hurley (Dublin Dundrum Town Centre) 7 hours 11 mins 47 secs; 2, B. Lacey (Kerry Total Cleaning Supplies) at 20 secs; 3, F. O'Connor (Meath Martin Donnelly) at 1 min 54 secs.
