Noor Dekker topped the timesheets in this morning's fifth stage with a storming ride around the 2.5 kilometre circuit around Kilkenny Castle, finishing in a time of 3 minutes 27 seconds, at a searing average speed of 43.4 kilometres per hour.
Defending champion and stage four winner Manon de Boer crossed the line just one second down on Dekker for a Dutch one-two on the stage, with magenta jersey Mia Griffin posting the third fastest time a further second back.
Griffin’s performance secures her advantage at the top of the general classification, with De Boer moving to second overall at 11 seconds, now followed by Dekker in third at 23 seconds with only this afternoon’s final stage criterium left to race.
26-year-old Dekker’s success comes after an impressive podium place on Friday’s third stage to Gorey, with this victory celebrated in particularly jubilant fashion with her JEGG-DJR Academy teammates after they nervously checked off the times of the final few riders.
Despite the changes in several GC positions, the leads of all the classifications remain the same as before the stage, with Griffin still in the magenta jersey as overall race leader, as well as sitting at the top of the Cycling Ireland Points and Kilkenny County Council Best Irish Rider classifications.
DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK’s Caoimhe O’Brien also remains the Sport Ireland Best Young Rider, with NWVG-Uplus’ De Boer having already secured the IVCA Wicklow 200 Queen of the Mountains jersey in yesterday’s fourth stage.
The riders return to Kilkenny Castle this afternoon for the popular city centre criterium race, consisting of just over one hour of laps of the 2.1 kilometre circuit. Griffin goes into the sixth stage in a strong position overall with an 11 second advantage over De Boer, although it is still mathematically possible for the Dutch rider to gain up to 13 seconds of time bonuses available at the intermediate sprint and stage finish.
The Kilkenny rider will be taking nothing for granted, however, having raced this criterium on several occasions and will be well aware of the drama that it can entail. Racing gets underway at Kilkenny Castle at 1.30pm.
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