McLaughlin In Yellow Again as Ward Takes Stage 3

Stage three of Rás Dhun na nGall took to the roads from Ardara to Glenties to Portnoo this afternoon to cover three laps of an 18 mile circuit. While things may have been close in GC going into the stage there were a lot of time bonuses up for grabs on this stage the first two passes of the finish line had points 3, 2, 1 for the first three while on  the final pass these points were doubled. As a result attacks began almost from the off and leaving some riders out the back in the first few miles.

A group of seven riders gradually began to make a dent and pull away from the main peloton. This group included Calvin Moore (Caldwell Cycles), Caolem McCarter (Belgian Project Cycling Ulster), Conor Gallagher (Castlebar CC), Eoghan McLaughlin (NRPT), Mark McKinley (Newry Wheelers), Adam Ward (AAA) and Dillon Corkery (NRPT). Despite hard chasing by the peloton the group continued to increase their slender lead up to 46 seconds at one stage. This made McLaughlin effectively the Yellow jersey on the road.

Halvey in  Yellow made a brave attempt to get across and hung out in front of the bunch with a slim 5 second lead for some time before giving up the chase.

However in the closing miles some of the lead group were reeled back in and a few others joined the break but the lead had gone down to less that 20 seconds. It was enough though for Ward to put the hammer down and win the stage in fine style.

He was followed in by Dillon Corkery (NRPT) and Liam Hanley of Cycling Leinster. Bobby Kane of Bann Wheelers put in  a brave effort in the closing miles to take a fine fourth followed by Ruan McArdle and Alexis Roche of NRPT. Robbie Doherty of Belgian Project Cycling Ulster was eighth with Aaron McBride (Donegal Bay) and Mile Brown of Nenagh completing the top ten.

Going into tomorow's final stage which finishes on the brutal climb of Glengesh McLaughlin will be starting in Yellow. He will have a fight on his hands to keep it to the line as there are only 36 seconds separating the top ten riders on GC. The stage starts at 12 noon  tomorrow and will cover 61 miles ending on Glengesh.

Report and Pics Marian Lamb UCN : marianlamb@ulstercycling news.com

To see a video of the rollout from Ardara today taken by Reece Doherty click HERE

To Download the Full GC Click HERE

Top Ten Stage 3

1.  Ward,Adam            AAA Cycling            2h17'07"
2. Corkery,Dillon        NRPT                   2h17'10"    @03"
3. Hanley,Liam           Cycling Leinster       2h17'13"    @06"
4. Kane,Bobby            Bann Wheelers CC       2h17'15"    @08"
5. Gallagher,Conor       Castlebar CC           2h17'15"   @ s/t
6. McArdle Ruane,Eoghan  NRPT                   2h17'26"    @19"
7. Roche,Alexis       NRPT                   2h17'26"   @ s/t
8. Doherty,Robbie       Belgium Project Devl   2h17'26"   @ s/t
9. McBride,Aaron        Donegal Bay CC         2h17'26"   @ s/t
10. Browne,Mike          Nenagh CC              2h17'26"   @ s/t

Top Ten GC Stage 3

1. McLaughlin,Eoghan  NRPT               3h37'37"
2. Halvey,Conor         NRPT               3h37'39"       @02"
3. Roche,Alexis       NRPT               3h37'41"       @04"
4. Downey,Ethan         Island Wheelers    3h37'41"      = s/t
5. Murnane,Sean        Cycling Leinster   3h37'55"       @18
6. Corkery,Dillon        NRPT               3h37'57"       @20"
7. Hanley,Liam         Cycling Leinster   3h38'01"       @24"
8. McGlynn,Michael      Belgium Project    3h38'05"       @28"
9. Moore,Calvin           Caldwell Cycles    3h38'09"       @32"
10. Gallagher,Conor      Castlebar CC       3h38'11"       @34"