MARTIN DONNELLY JUNIOR TOUR 2005 - Stage 4
Castlebar - Achill - Castlebar
Bestebreurje
wins, Armstrong takes Yellow
By Tommy Campbell,
Jul 15, 2005,
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John Bingham,
ancestor of the Earls of Lucan, founded the town of Castlebar at the
beginning of the 17th century. On the 27th of August 1798 a defining
moment in the history of the town was played out! General Humbert
advanced on Castlebar with 700 troops and 1,000 untrained peasants. The
British who held the town, broke at the fourth assault, leaving their
stores, guns and 1,200 prisoners in Humber's hands. From the precipitate
flight of the British cavalry to Hollymount and Tuam, the event has ever
since been known as the 'Castlebar Races,'
Adam Armstrong of the Irish team certainly threw caution to the wind on
two fronts when he came across the finishing line after stage four of
the M. Donnelly Junior Tour in Castlebar yesterday afternoon. He
displaced his colleague on the Irish team, Martin Munroe who has led
from the front for the last three days as the race leader who is
distinguished in the bunch by his yellow tunic. Adam moved ahead in an
inconspicuous break after coming out of Achill Sound with approximately
28 miles of racing ahead of them to the finish in Castlebar.
Included in the group were the Dutch duo of Joey Bestebreurje and Willem
Schwaner, Urban Monks of the Down team, Tom Diggle from the British
Cycling NW and Ciaran Cassidy of the Meath Avonmore team. The entire
sextet made their presence known by contributing to the break and in no
time they had built up a commanding lead, which held firm to the
finishing line. In the heel of the hunt this put Armstrong leader on the
road and into yellow. This was not the first occasion that Armstrong had
thrown down the gauntlet to Munroe who had held the lead since day one.
For the last two days, he has demonstrated that he was willing to make
the running, but previously it was the power and the determination of
Munroe who was well capable of nipping things in the bud, which seen him
retain the race lead. On this time out Armstrong succeeded in achieving
his goal as the race leader in the JT.
In true spirit of the yellow jersey, Munroe made a valiant attempt to
bridge the gap to the break. At one time he was adrift of the break by
over a minute, but he somehow summoned up some reserves to cut his
losses and finished 40 seconds adrift of Joey Bestebreurtje who was
winning back too back stages. Armstrong sits on top of the general
classification listing by nine seconds ahead of Willem Schwaner, with
Tim Cassidy back in third spot.
Today being the penultimate day of the JT, we can expect to see some
fireworks. As far as Munroe is concerned he is not a spent force and
equally Armstrong is up to the defence of the jersey. It could be a case
of the Irish team misjudging the plot and allowing either Ciaran Cassidy
or the Dutch to roll over the top to overall victory.
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| Joey
Bestebreurje (BMV Veldhoven) wins his second stage |
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| The
Podium after Stage 4 |
M. Donnelly Junior Tour
Stage Four/70 miles-Castlebar/Achill Island/Castlebar.
Sponsored by Usher Insulations.
1 Joey Bestebeurtje (BMV Tempo
Veldhoven), 2hrs.57mins.39secs;
2 Ciaran Cassidy (Navan/Avonmore CC), same time;
3 Urban Monks (Down), st;
4 Tom Diggle British Cycling NW), st;
5 Willem Schwaner (BMV Tempo Veldhoven), st;
6 Adam Armstrong (Ireland), st;
7 Jonathan Bellis (British Cycling NW), @ 40secs;
8 Martin Munroe (Ireland), st;
9 Neal Corbett (South Africa), @1.03;
10 Michael Robinson (BMV Veldhoven), st.
OVERALL after 4 stages
1 Armstrong, 8.00.10;
Schwaner, @9secs;
3 Cassidy, @12;
4 Bestebeurite, @15;
5 Diggle, @27;
6 Munroe, @30;
7 Michael Murray (Ulster), @1.02;
8 Maurice O'Brein (Kanturk Credit Union CC), @1.05;
9 Bellis, @1.06;
10 Monks, @1.17.
Points- Bestebeurite.
Mountains: Dana Minne (South Africa).
1st Year Junior: Diggle.
Team: BMV Veldhoven..
Download
full results in PDF format c/o Seamus Shortall (RapidResults)
PICTURES
OF THE STAGE
Stage 4 starts in Castltbar with an 110Km
stage around West Mayo including Achill Island then finishing back in
Castlebar.
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| Riders
roll out to the start of the longest stage |
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| Some
riders attack on the way to Newport |
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| Anthony
O'Boyle from Wales breaks away going through Newport |
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| More
riders try to get out of the bunch |
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| The
Irish team at the front of the bunch |
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| Achill
welcomes the lone breakaway rider |
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| More
riders try to break clear |
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| Except
for the Welsh rider the bunch is all together |
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| A
Dutch rider drives the bunch on the coast road to Achill Island |
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| As
they approach the KOM on Achill a new 4 man breakaway goes clear |
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| The
break climbing the short steep Cat 2 climb on the Island |
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| Diarmuid
Cronin and Neal Corbett part of the 4 man breakaway |
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| Green
Jersey Maurice O'Brien leads the bunch up the climb |
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| Going
over the top, great view of the Atlantic Ocean |
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| A
fast chase back down to Achill Sound |
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| Leaving
the Island the race comes back together |
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| A
new breakaway goes clear, with Adam Arrmstrong the new leader on
the road |
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| Marting
Munroe jumps clear of the bunch in an effort to hold unto his
leaders jersey |
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| All
the riders in the break have a lot to gain, its full steam ahead
to the finish |
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| Munroe
chases hard |
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| At
the finish Joey Bestebreurje (BMV Veldhoven) takes his second
stage win |
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| Munroe
finishes 8th at 40 secs and looses the jersey to Armstrong |
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| The
top 3 stage places, with stage sponsor Dolores Usher of Usher
Insulations |
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| Adam
Armstrong put on the race leaders jersey |
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| The
Podium after stage 4: Minne (Mountains) Bestebreurtje (points)
Armstrong (Leaders) |
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