McCann achieves his big goal

CYCLING: David McCann, the Ireland-Thorton's Recycling rider, yesterday finished safely in the main bunch to win his first FBD Milk Rás, crossing the line ninth in a mass sprint won by former Tour of Spain sprint king Malcolm Elliott.

"I'm speechless . . . I'm absolutely chuffed," he said after the prize presentation. "The FBD Milk Rás was the big goal of my season, even more so than Olympic selection is. If I'd to chose between the two, I'd take the FBD Milk Rás right away."

Heading into Saturday's big showdown stage of the race, Valter Bonca was confident he could hold on to his yellow jersey. His team had ridden well for him all week to control the race. What's more, with two Tours of Italy plus 11 years as a professional to his credit, the Slovenian had the endurance and experience required.

Or so it seemed. Yet just two riders have succeeded in taming the wild, unpredictable Rás over the years. The great Sé O'Hanlon did so in 1965, 1966 and 1967, and the Russian Alexander Gysiatnikov in 1970. The history books suggest that leading this race from start to finish is an improbable, almost impossible task. This weekend confirmed that to be the case.

In the end it was the teamwork and co-operation shown by the Ireland-Thornton's Recycling squad which paid off. David O'Loughlin's excellent stage-long breakaway on Friday brought him to within three seconds of yellow. On Saturday, the Ireland double whammy of O'Loughlin and McCann struck again, finally breaking Bonca and his team. O'Loughlin attacked, McCann countered and the Belfast man stormed to a superb stage win. More importantly, he hit the line in Tullow 59 seconds clear of the deposed yellow jersey and so captured the race lead.

It was, many agreed, the best day's racing they had ever seen. Bonca's Slovenia Perutnina Ptuj controlled things early on but dropped back under the weight of the Irish attacks on the first category climbs of The Heights, Corrabut and Mount Leinster.

The yellow jersey was isolated; while he brought back a move by O'Loughlin on the last of those three climbs, he had no answer to McCann's subsequent surge on the descent.

Twenty seconds, 40 seconds, one minute. The gap grew until a regrouping brought the Slovenian team back into the chasing group. With 20 kilometres to go their frantic efforts brought them within eight seconds of McCann, yet when the Ireland-Thornton's Recycling riders started attacking the yellow jersey, he was soon isolated once more. Bonca did what he could to stay in touch, but when it became clear that O'Loughlin was sacrificing his chances so that McCann could win the race, the Slovenian's resolve crumbled. The game was up.

With a lead of 36 seconds, yesterday Phoenix Park circuit race was all about staying out of trouble for McCann. The Ireland team controlled the bunch to make sure Bonca didn't try any last gasp attacks and that their leader didn't risk being involved in a fall. Such tactics paved the way for an almost inevitable bunch gallop with Elliott making sure of the green sprint jersey in taking the win. Kimmo Kananen was second with Paul Healion in third.

In terms of the other classifications, Tobias Lergard was the best climber. The Ireland-Thorton's Recycling squad were best international team while Kerry were tops in the county team award.