Britain's Alex Pritchard won the opening stage of this year's Rás Tailteann, while defending champion Dillon Corkery got off to a solid start, leading in the main bunch after a three-man breakaway stayed clear to the finish line in Kilmallock.
Pritchard (UK: Richardsons Trek DAS) outsprinted Paul Kennedy (USA: Skyline-Cadence) and Dom Jackson (UK: Foran CC) to the line after they were clear for much of the 147.6km stage from Tullamore to the finish line in south Limerick.
Kennedy took two of the three bonus sprints along the way but ends up one second off Pritchard's yellow jersey, with Jackson four seconds back in the overall standings.
Corkery and fellow Team Ireland rider Odhran Doogan were at the head of the peloton, netting fourth and fifth 23 seconds back.
"Honestly, I'm a little shocked," said Pritchard, who is riding the race for the first time. "I didn't expect to get in the break and for it to stick and to stay away. So to walk away with the stage win is unreal. You couldn’t make it up."
The opening stage featured two category three climbs plus twisting, undulating roads en route to a first Rás stage finish in Kilmallock.
A multitude of attacks were fired off from the start, with the day's decisive break forming inside the opening 25km and quickly gaining time.
After passing through the hot-spot sprint at Birr (28.9km), where Kennedy beat Jackson and Pritchard, they raced on to the climb at John Caulfield Memorial Bike Park (40.4km) with a lead of 52 seconds.
Jackson was best there ahead of Pritchard, and again at the climb at Birdhill (92.7km).
Two sets of chasers had set off in pursuit after approximately 60km of racing. Lindsay Watson (Cork: All Human VeloRevolution) and Britain's Jacob Smith (UK: Wheelbase-Cabtech-Castelli) were chasing hard, with Gareth O'Neill (Galway: Challenge CC) stranded in no man’s land behind them.
Heading towards the category three climb of Birdhill, Smith and Watson were at 1'42 with O’Neill at 2’35 and the Briton Matthew Wilson (UK: Ride Revolution Clothing) a further 10 seconds back. The peloton was at four minutes and five seconds, handing the break a strong chance of making it to the finish line.
Jackson was best on the climb, ensuring he would end the day in the King of the Mountains jersey. The time gaps started reducing on the run in towards Kilmallock, with the chasers all being caught by the bunch. It was 1'56 back with 17km remaining and just a minute adrift with 10 kilometres to go, but the three leaders were able to up their pace and held them off to the line.
Britain's Alex Pritchard has won the opening stage of this year's Rás Tailteann. pic.twitter.com/9Gry5VShW8
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 22, 2024
"It's just a shame that we let those boys get such a big gap," Corkery said after taking fourth. "I think if we started riding earlier, maybe we could have brought them back in the finish, because we obviously have some of the faster sprinters here.
"But look, it is what it is. Tomorrow's another day and plus the Rás is five days racing, not one."
Corkery will be celebrated at the start of a much tougher stage two, which begins in his hometown of Kanturk and featuring six categorised climbs en route to Sneem.
These include the gruelling category one ascent of Ballaghasheen Pass and the difficult category two climb of Coomakista.
Pritchard will wear yellow but when asked about his chances of improving on team-mate Conor McGoldrick's achievements of 12 months ago and winning the race outright, he said that he was uncertain what to expect.
"I don't think I’ve thought that far ahead yet," he said, laughing. "Conor last year, he absolutely smashed it. It would be nice to try and do it justice, carry it all the way. But we’ll see how we go. Tomorrow is going to be hard."
Rás Tailteann stage one, Tullamore to Kilmallock:
1 Alex Pritchard (UK: Richardsons Trek DAS) 147.6km in 3h09'25
2 Paul Kennedy (USA: Skyline-Cadence) at 2 secs
3 Dom Jackson (UK:Foran CT) same time
4 Dillon Corkery (Team Ireland) at 23 secs
5 Odhran Doogan (Team Ireland)
6 Kuicheng Wang (China: Team Bodywrap)
7 Matteo Cigala (Carlow: Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei)
8 Tim Shoreman (UK: Wheelbase-Cabtech-Castelli)
9 Jim Brown (UK: Ribble Revolution)
10 Will Perrett (UK: Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling) all same time
Points competition:
1 Alex Pritchard (UK: Richardsons Trek DAS) 15
2 Paul Kennedy (USA: Skyline-Cadence) 14
3 Dom Jackson (UK:Foran CT) 13
Mountains competition:
1 Dom Jackson (UK: Foran CT) 10
2 Alex Pritchard (UK: Richardsons Trek DAS) 8
3 Paul Kennedy (USA: Skyline-Cadence) 6
Young rider:
1 Odhran Doogan (Team Ireland)
County rider:
1, Matteo Cigala (Carlow: Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei)
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
