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Comeragh Cycling Club News
Ras Mumhann 14/04/2009
Ras Mumhan
3 Comeragh riders Robin Kelly, Keith Gater and Mark Nugent made the trip to Ras Mumhan this year along with 2
guest riders: Daniel Carroll of Clonmel CC and Andrew Ahearne of Worldwide Cycles.
Stage 1: friday.
Friday evening was to be a short stage which took place in relatively pleasant and sunny conditions. At about
64km in length comments such as "just a long league race" were casually made by those who had not yet experienced
the delights of Ras Mumhan. The race field down here is usually first class and this year was no exception with
the absolute cream of Irish cycling along with talented riders from the UK and Netherlands all in attendance. It
became clear with a glance of the sign-on sheet that this would not be "just" an anything !
Friday was a bit of a rush with the team arriving in Kilorglin a mere 45 minutes prior to the race start and the
sense of urgency did not abate when the starters flag dropped for the 126 starters. The pace was instantly on with
speeds of 50-60kph recorded on the road to Killarney. The cameraman from RTE lying in the back of a volvo estate
with the boot open trying to film the riders adding to the sense of occasion. Shortly after Killarney a break of
16 riders went clear containing 2 of our riders: Mark and Keith, the break also contained a couple of dutch riders,
Brian Kenneally, Paul Griffin, Sean Lacey, John Dempsey, Mark Power, Philip Lavery etc... it was obvious that this
one wasn't coming back.
This group worked well together until the main climb of the day a 1 mile long sharp, steep Cat 2 at which point
they had over 3 minutes. This kind of climb is right up Mark Nugents street and he was prominent at the front,
Keith's legs were not 100%, but his presence in the break shows that his form is coming back following a lengthy
layoff earlier in the year with illness, nonetheless he found himself along with a few others out the back.
Meanwhile up front Brian Kenneally had jumped clear with Paul Griffin and one of the Dutch riders and was opening
up a gap. Mark was in the next group of 6 along with Sean Lacey and Rory Wyley with another small group
containing Philip Lavery a short distance behind. Mark worked very well in this group but they were not to regain
the leaders. The Dutch Rider came around Griffin to take the win and the yellow jersey. Mark came in with his group
just over a minute later losing a couple of seconds on the uphill sprint but good enough for a superb ninth place.
Robin had suffered during the stage having been suffering from respitory problems for a couple of days beforehand
and finished about 7 minutes back. Keith in the meantime did well to finish in the first part of the main bunch at
3 minutes down. Danny and Andrew finished about 7 and 4 minutes back respectively after strong performances.
The stage had been a brutal war of attrition, so much for it being the easy one !
Stage 2
Stage 2 was the big one. 140km+ with plenty of climbing including the fearsome Cat1 Conor Pass. The
weather was lousy too plenty of cold rain to make a tough job even tougher. This did not deter the peleton however
which shot off at a furious pace shelling riders instantly. The road out towards inch was rolling and into a
headwind, not the perfect location to get a puncture which is unfortuntely what Mark Nugent did. A slow wheelchange
compounded his problems and left him some 2 minutes behind the bunch. The bunch in the meantime was a hive of
activity with non-stop reports of attacks coming through on the race radio, however nothing was being left go
causing the bunch to be lined out. Fair play to Mark however who persevered and rode his heart out for almost 40!!!
minutes to regain the bunch. A lesser rider would have thrown in the towel. Danny Carroll went back to help Mark
but was informed by a race official that Mark had gotten "the wheelchange from hell" and was history !
Shortly after Mark got back, Andrew punctured but quickly got back on just in time for the first major climb (its
the KOH climb from the Lacey cup in reverse), Sam Bennett took this one by 20 second ahead of the mountains jersey
of Paul Griffin. Robin looked to be active at this point also featuring prominently near the front of the bunch, but
it was all too much. Struggling with chest problems he made the sensible decision to abandon just before the Conor
Pass (the RAS is too close to be taking chances with health). The field shattered almost straight away on the climb,
bodies were everywhere and the peleton seemed to stretch for 1km up the side of the mountain. It was here that a
breakaway of 11 riders formed including the yellow jersey, Griffin and Kenneally among others. Mark Nugent
amazingly considering his 30k TT earlier got into the next group (which was caught by another group on the descent)
this would become the main bunch for the rest of the day. There were a couple of smaller groups following which
eventually merged also containing the likes of Philip Lavery as well as Danny, Andrew and a somewhat out of sorts
Keith.
The action at the front was fierce with Brian Kenneally instigating a move which dropped the yellow jersey and his
team mate as the gap to the chasers extended slowly towards the minute mark. Kenneally countered a strong attack
from Griffin on the final Cat 4 before soloing into the finish line a couple of seconds ahead of Griffin to take
the yellow jersey. In the meantime Mark comfortably finished with the chase group around a minute back capping off
another really superb ride (and thats before you even consider the amount of chasing he had to do following his
puncture) retaining 9th place overall.
Stage 3
Stage 3 was to be the queen stage of the race, 130km of non-stop climbing. Mark Nugent was superbly placed and very close to the top of the U23
competition (so close in fact that some of us were wondering out loud should he be considered for selection for the
Ireland U23 team). His legs felt great on Saturday night so the plan was to push on Sunday and to attack his rivals
in the espoir competition on the final climbs. Disaster struck however in the early hours of Sunday morning when Mark
was downed with illness. Following a sleepless night spent vomiting at regular intervals he made his way to
the breakfast table but when he failed to hold down a single piece of toast we knew it was curtains. A bitter
disappointment for him but he will be back, the season is still young and so is he !
With 2 of our riders put out by ill health it was left to Keith Gater to fly the Comeragh flag along with Danny and
Andrew. Keith told us his legs felt good and he wasn't kidding. The race took off in sunny conditions from Waterville
at a ferocious speed towards Cahirciveen, within 10 miles a break of about 15 riders had formed and it looked dangerous
containing the Dutch former yellow jersey and 3rd place overall rider along with Martin O'Loughlin, Eugene Moriarty and our
own Keith Gater. The group extended its lead out to nearly 2 minutes by the top of the first major KOM at which point
w
Yellow Jersey, Kenneally's team swung into action to preserve his slender 5 second lead as the Dutch rider was now virtual
yellow jersey on the road. For the next 20km towards Valentia the blue of the Engraveit.ie team were glued to the front of
the peleton which was lined out and shedding lots of riders in the extremely strong crosswinds and by the time they got to
the bridge to the Island the escapee's were all but caught. All except for 3 riders including Keith Gater and Martin O'Loughlin
who attacked the faltering break. Keith didn't know there was a prime in the bridge (pity), coming across in third, but very,
very nearly took the KOM at the toughest climb of the day on Valentia island being caught just at the top by the main bunch led
by Paul Griffin, he still took 4th however.
By now the race had been destroyed with several small groups and huge gaps. About 50 riders were together and the front and this
now included Keith and Andrew (Danny was in the next group back). From here the race became even more difficult with several KOM's
in rapid succession and attacks galore, with Philip Lavery, Sam Bennett and many others all making a bid for glory, but Keith and
Andrew hung on to the delight of the packed Comeragh team car (A stressed David Quigley, Annette O'Mahony, Robin Kelly and Mark
Nugent). Only in the home straight when the main bunch split in two did Keith finally fall out of contention coming into the finish
in the second part of the main bunch 28 seconds down on the winner from Holland. Crucially however Griffin had gained bonus seconds
taking second place in the sprint and was now only 2 seconds down on Brian Kenneally in the lead. A good day for Comeragh however,
Keith had been using this race as preparation for the RAS and had not been satisfied with himself in the first 2 stages but even
by his own high standards, he must surely have been happy with his performance in this stage. The rest of us were impressed at least !
Stage 4
Stage 4 was to be a relatively flat 100km stage (relative to the previous stages that is). The day got off to a good start with Keith Gater of Comeragh CC getting
a mention in that mornings "Irish Examiner" as being the instigator of the break the previous day. The race got underway in perfect sunny conditions and Keith
was active straight away jumping up the road a couple of times but being followed by key riders on both occasions and there was no way that the race leaders
were going to stand for that ! Eventually a break did eventually get away featuring Michael Concannon, Ray Clarke, the impressive Stephen Barrett and some
of the Irish Espoir team. It was clear that this break would stay away, particularly as it suited the race leaders engraveit.ie team very well !
The lead extended out to some 3:50 by the time the groups reached the finish circuit and so the stage was set. Ray Clarke looked to be the outstanding favourite and
dominated until the final lap when Ciaran Cassidey of the Irish team chased him down and took the stage win with Barrett second and Fitzgerald of Dan Morrissey third.
Keith, Danny and Andrew all finished in the main bunch 1:47 back. Paul Griffin did have a go with 1km to go in an effort to reclaim the 2 second deficit which
he required to take yellow but Kenneally caught him on the final bend to hold on for his 3rd overall victory in Ras Mumhan. Well done Brian !
Well done to all of our riders on an excellent weekends work despite some truly lousy luck !
Pictures and video to follow........
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