THE HALFWAY point was passed in the FBD Milk Ras yesterday on the stage around Kerry from Killarney to Killorglin and for the first time there was no change of leadership. Matthew Postle, a van driver from Wales, is still in the driving seat heading for Bandon this morning.

Micheal Fitzgerald of Tipperary was best in the sprint up the hill in Killorglin at the end of the 88 miles, with Tuesday's winner Mark McKay (Stoke) second and John Blackwell (Kerry) third, but Postle retained his advantage of six seconds over Andy Naylor (Stoke), Gethin Butler (England North East) and Ciaran Power of the Ireland team.

A breakaway group of 13 dominated the stage and Karl Donnelly (Dublin IRC), who was last to link up at the head of affairs, was best placed to pose a threat to Postle.

Donnelly was 13th, three minutes and 12 seconds in arrears but when the leaders went to three minutes. ahead of the main group containing Postle and his closest rivals, Donnelly had a chance of taking over the yellow jersey. However there was a big charge from behind in the last 10 miles and the gap was reduced to 239 meaning that Donnelly missed out on taking the lead.

Donnelly improved from 13th to fifth, only 36 seconds behind Postle and the others who gained most were Fitzgerald and McKay.

Fitzgerald went from 16th to 11th, 2:09 down, while McKay's climb up the leaderboard continued. He jumped from 35th to 14th on Tuesday and is now eighth, 1:42 behind Postle.

Fitzgerald from Clonmel, national champion two years ago, won the final stage in Swords last year. He was acknowledged as the top sprinter in the leading group and has an unbeaten record in any races he competed in that finished in Killorglin. Still, he had to pull out all the stops to get past Blackwell and then hold McKay off.

Blackwell went ahead soon after the start with Dutchman Jeroen Slagter and they gained a minute on the Ladies View climb and held that advantage on Molls Gap, with Slagter leading over the top each time.

A chasing group, which included Fitzgerald, joined Slagter and Blackwell while Donnelly also made it across on his own with a powerful effort.

Then McKay left Cian Lynch and Brian Fleming and also linked up with the leaders and although a chasing group of six formed and caught Lynch and Fleming, most interest was on the gap between Donnelly at the front and Postle.

When the main pack eventually stepped up the pace towards the end, Donnelly's chance of taking the lead faded and died, but he is certainly in contention now as the battle continues today.