Brian Kenneally and Mark Scanlon were the overall winners of the stage races that ended yesterday. Kenneally was best in Cork after four days of Ras Mumhan while Scanlon went one better than last year in the three-day race from Tallaght to Gorey and back.
Kenneally was third on the first stage behind Philip Cassidy and Ciaran Power but took over the lead when he won stage two and extended his advantage with first place again in the time trial on the Killarney-Killorglin road on Sunday morning.
On the final stage of 93 miles yesterday Karl Donnelly broke away and held on with his Leinster team-mate Shane Baker best in the sprint for second place. Kenneally stayed at the head of the overall classification from Power and Cassidy. After winning the first three stages of his event, Scanlon was unable to make it a clean sweep on the final stage yesterday but he clearly emerged best overall. At the end of the total of 187 miles, Scanlon from Sligo, who was foiled by two seconds on the final stage last year, had five minutes and 28 seconds to spare this time over his nearest rival, Ray Keane. On the final stage of 64 miles, Scanlon was safety tucked into the bunch when it arrived at The Square.
On the penultimate stage of the Tour of the North at Larne, Ross Blayney was the winner but Englishman Andy Proffitt leads going into today's final stage at Ballymena.
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