MARTIN DONNELLY JUNIOR TOUR 2007 - Stage 4

Ballina to Ballina

M DONNELLY JUNIOR TOUR: STAGE 4 REPORT By Tommy Campbell Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent Jul 13, 2007,   Tomorrow is brokerage day in the M. Donnelly Junior Tour. Surely the race organiser Alice Sherratt has written the script for tomorrow s's penultimate stage over 106kms which includes two ascents of the 'Windy Gap,' She let them in on a secret that there are two sides to the 'Gap' and Tuesday's opener a Hill Climb sponsored by Duff's of Bray was only a teaser? As it stands now with two stages remaining, realistically only 10 have a qualified chance of lifting the trophy come Sunday afternoon. Personally, I think it would be unwise for anyone to put their head on the chopping block! The overall leader is still Sam Webster of the Dave Raynor team and with the exception of Wednesday he has worn the race leader's jersey with distinction. Of course he has a solid team behind and the backroom staff of Bill Holmes and Keith Lambert is a unique pair when it comes to listening about their racing careers. Aside of that today's penultimate stage is going to be a humdinger (we hope). Today's stage over some very tricky roads could at times be describes as a cabbage highway. But the most important thing was that is was safe for the riders. The starter's flag held by John Ryan was hardly back in the window than the action started for the 76kms of racing with Kent McKinnon of the South African team and Pat Aherne of the Usher Irish Road Club livening up the proceedings before Philip Lavery of the Stena-Ireland team got in on the action. Further up the tree lined road, Mark Heneghan also of Ireland (obviously under the management of Brian Taaffe, this Irish team do things in unison), Nathan Edmonson of Dave Raynor, Andrew Whitehall of Scotland, and like the Irish, the double act of the Usher-Moy/VC la Pomme Florent Boyer and Thibaut Delotte went ahead. There was virtually no reaction from the bunch and the exclusion of any of Tempo BMV Veldhoven was conspicuous to say the least. Still the seven forged ahead and were gaining time on the bunch when disaster struck again for Philip Lavery who encountered a mechanical problem. Fortunately on this occasion Philip was able to resume his position in the lead group who I might add, I was pleasantly surprised with his quick return to the lead group. After 9kms they where hovering on the 30-45 second advantage, when the first puncture of the day occurred for Tom Black of the Isle of Man who had to chase for next 10kms before regaining the bunch minus the lead group whose advantage was just breaking the minute barrier at that juncture. On the narrowest part of the course Blair Gibb of Scotland crashed and virtually took up the entire road. The bunch was in full flight at speed to tackle the leaders including his team mate Andrew Whitehall. Fortunately the cavalcade maneuvered past Blair and headed back to rejoin the race which at this juncture had split because of the crash. Still the lead group were making all the waves in the right direction. At Inishcrone the advantage of the leaders was teetering just below two minutes. The bunch may have been depleted because of the crash at 26kms, but at the 60kms the wayward group rejoined them and spurred them into action. Suddenly there was urgency in the bunch at the arrival of their long lost cousins and the speed went up as they went in a determined manner to make the junction to the break. Thankfully for the escapees they hung on to sprint for the line in Ballina with Philip Lavery claiming first place to make his day worthwhile. Historical interest of the day: Close to the railway station in Ballina is the most remarkable sight in the town which has the Dolmen of the Four Maols three large rocks capped by a massive boulder that dates back to the Bronze Age. A much later legend asserts that the dolmen marks the graves of a quartet of 6th Century foster brothers who killed their eminent tutor Ceallach, Bishop of Kilmormoy. Together they were hanged by Ceallach's brother across the river at Ardnaree and then buried there. RESULTS of the DAY The podium after stage 4, Sam Webster is in yellow - Picture by Seamus Shortall M. Donnelly Junior Tour - Stage 4 Ballina/Ballina, 75.8kms 1 Philip Lavery (Stena-Ireland), 1hr.51mins.47secs; 2 M. Heneghan (Stena-Ireland), @1sec; 3 N. Edmonson (Dave Raynor), st; 4 A. Whitehall (Scotland), st; 5 F. Boyer (Usher-Moy/VC la Pomme), @3; 6 T. Delotte (Usher-Moy/VC la Pomme), @6; 7 S. Bennett (Stena-Ireland), @48; 8 A. Lynch (Kanturk Credit Union CC), st; 9 A. Hunter (Ulster team), st; 10 A. Ponten (Tempo MBV Veldhoven), st. Overall after four stages 1 S. Webster (Dave Raynor), 7.44.59; 2 S. Bennett, @5secs; 3 N. van Geffen (Tempo BMV Veldhoven), @10; 4 D. Dunworth (Stena-Ireland), @24; 5 J. Albouy (Usher-Moy/VC la Pomme), @25; 6 B. Ruan (Tempo BMV Veldhoven), @28; 7 T. Martin (BC West Midlands), @30; 8 K. Frend, (BC West Midlands), @37' 9 D. Jelf (BC West Midlands), @38; 10 L. Rinaldi (Usher-Moy/VC la Pomme), @39. First Year Junior: Bennett. Points: Bennett. Mountains: Delotte.