An Post Ras: Jan Sokol wins stage 3

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Austrian Jan Sokol (Synergy Baku) out sprinted a breakaway group of eight riders to claim victory on stage three of the An Post Rás. Patrick Bevin (New Zealand national team) finished safely in the bunch to hold into his overall race lead.

"With five kilometres to go, I thought that unless our group makes a big mistake that it would come down to a sprint and it did," Sokol said.  "In the final kilometre the Irish rider, Aiken, was very strong and attacked hard but I managed to chase him down and just got ahead of him in the last few hundred metres. I'm very happy; it's a great win for our team."

Sokol took the win ahead of Riccardo Pichetta (Team Idea) and Oliver Wood (Great Britain National Team) while Damien Shaw (Cork City Aquablue) was right on Wood's wheel crossing the line to take fourth place, while stage one winner Robert-Jon McCarthy (An Post Chain Reaction) finished in fifth position.

The 154km stage three route from Lisdoonvarna to Charleville was another relatively flat affair with only two category climbs capable of causing any consternation to the peloton.

Following a few unsuccessful attacks early on, a group of seven riders went clear approaching Ennis after 30km of racing. In the group were Sokol, Wood, Pichetta, Pierrick Naud (Canadian National Team), David Wohrer (Tirol Cycling), Andre Benoit (Team Kuota) and Irishman Roger Aiken (Louth North).

Shaw and McCarthy gave chase to the break and in bridging a gap of 17 seconds, the leaders became nine. The escapees lead hovered around the three and a half minute mark.

Aiken won the two King of the Mountain and the Hot Spot primes on offer while the New Zealand National Team and Subaru-Albion worked to close the gap. With 10km to go, the break's lead had dwindled to just 1:15 minutes.

With a few kilometres to go, it was the clear that the break would not be caught although Aiken attacked from the front twice only to be reeled in on both occasions. As the leaders turned the final corner into the town centre, Sokol reached deep and galloped to the win.

The main bunch finished 16 seconds behind Sokol, with Bevin securing his overall lead ahead of stage 4. The New Zealander also leads the points classification and the King of the Mountains jerseys.

Alex Peters (Britain Madison Genesis) and Sean Lacey (Cork City Aquablue) again sit top of the Under-23 and county rider classification respectively.

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