De Pauw claims victory in fast-finishing sprint

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Belgian rider Moreno De Pauw (Belgium National Team) out-sprinted Belfast native Connor McConvey (Synergy Baku) and Rasmus Guldhammer (Blue Water Cycling) to claim a superb victory on Stage five of An Post Rás.

The trio broke away three kilometres from the finish and turning into the home straight with a strong tailwind behind them it was De Pauw who proved the strongest in the dash to the line.

Marcin Bialoblocki (UK Youth Pro Cycling) retains the yellow jersey for the third consecutive day, finishing just one second off De Pauw and on the same time as McConvey and Guldhammer, who lie in second and third place on the general classification respectively.

Following a tough day in the mountains yesterday, there was sure to be some tired legs this morning and today's relatively flat 150 kilometre route from Glengarriff into Mitchelstown will have been welcomed by the sprinters in the race.

The riders faced a tough head wind for much of the early part of the stage with several groups of riders attempting to break away to no avail.

The first prominent attack came from New Zealander Michael Northey (Node 4 Giordana). He broke away at the 40 kilometre mark, following the descent of category two climb Gortnabinna and was joined shortly after by fellow countryman and stage two winner, Shane Archbold (An Post Chain Reaction Sean Kelly).

The duo rode aggressively and in spite of the forceful headwind, managed to establish a lead of 2:35 over the chasing bunch, which was being controlled by Bialoblocki's UK Youth Pro Cycling team.

Entering Mallow, there was a welcome change in wind direction for the two leaders. They were now being pushed along by a strong tailwind and ensuring they hit speeds of 60km/h. The chasing peloton were in no mood to lie down however, picking up the pace and whittling the gap down to just 57-seconds.

Archbold attacked again, dropping Northey but he was eventually reeled in by Alexander Schrangl (Arbo Gebruder Weiss) and Thomas Lavery (Waterford Comeragh) who had pursued him from the chasing bunch. Shrangl and Lavery pushed further ahead but were caught just after the category three climb of Kildorrey.

With the peloton back together again, a bunch sprint into Mitchelstown looked a certainty. McConvey, Guldhammer and De Pauw edged in front and coming round the bend into the final straight De Pauw accelerated away from the duo taking a hard earned victory.

An elated De Pauw spoke of his delight at earning the stage win.

"I feel amazing. I never expected to win a stage here on the An Post Rás so I am really really happy. With four kilometres to go we (McConvery and Guldhammer) had a small gap so I had to work hard and began sprinting just before the last corner. Thankfully I kept away to get the win."

Belfast man McConvey was pleased with how the race went and admits it was important to stay in touch at the top of the general classification.

"It was an easy day in terms of control of the race. It wasn't as frantic as some of the last days but the team rode well and it's great to be up there right behind Marcin in the GC. I think it's essential we stay in contention each day, otherwise you could fall a long way down."

There was no change to the king of the mountains jersey or the under-23 jersey wearers, which went to Michael Cuming (Rapha Condor JLT) and Simon Yates (Great Britain National Team) respectively. Mehall Fitzgerald (Visit Nenagh) claimed the County rider jersey for the second time.

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