Cavendish wins in Killarney

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Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish (Columbia HTC) showed the same speed which won him six stages in this year's Tour de France when he galloped home first on today's leg of the Tour of Ireland. He hit the line ahead of Michael Van Staeyen (Rabobank), Stuart O'Grady (Team Saxo Bank) plus the rest of a 93-man main bunch.

 The 24-year-old Briton followed on from his three stage victories in last year's edition of the race, having few problems after some strong leadout work from his Columbia HTC team. The Astana squad of Lance Armstrong had also driven the pace in some crosswinds on the run in to the finish, but the bunch did not split.

"It was a tough course, actually," Cavendish said afterwards. "But once things came back together, it was a formality, really. The team was great. They are a super group of guys. We are not just team-mates, we are friends too. That morale makes things easier and if one has success, it is success for all.

"It's always good to win. Although it was a tough finish we managed to take control of things with two kilometres to go. It was a team victory; one guy crosses the line with his arms in the air, but it's a success for everybody."

Overnight race leader Russell Downing finished 17th on the stage and kept a strong grip on the yellow jersey. He ended the day five seconds ahead of Alexander Kolobnev (Team Saxo Bank) and a further two ahead of the latter's team-mate Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Bank). Irishman Philip Deignan (Cervélo Test Team) is fourth, with last year's champion Marco Pinotti (Team Columbia - HTC) 11 seconds back in fifth.

Downing said afterwards that there were no big attacks launched on the day's first category climb, that of the Curragh. "Things were pretty controlled there," he stated. "There was a headwind at the summit. I think if the race had really been on there, I think there would have been some trouble. It was very open at the top."

Last year he led into the final stage but then lost his race lead on the last lap of a torturous finishing circuit in Cork city. He's hopeful that this year's finale could be different. "They've reduced the laps by one," he said. "If it was three laps last year I would have won the race, so we'll see how it goes. I'm feeling pretty good but there are a lot of strong riders close by - Saxo Bank have five, Astana have two, and there are others. We'll see what happens. It is going to be a hard task but I will go down fighting, definitely."

Two take on the bunch

Today's 196km stage was marked by a long breakaway by two riders, Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank) and Irishman Mark Cassidy of the An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly team. The latter attacked immediately after the start in Clonmel and was quickly joined by the Dutchman. Together they eked out a maximum lead of 14 minutes 30 seconds.

Van Winden had started the day 2:12 back and so he was race leader on the road. Cassidy took the An Post bonus sprint in Ardfinnan, while Van Winden was first to the top of the second category Vee and Musheramore climbs, shedding Cassidy on the latter. He had also taken the An Post sprints in Castletownroche and Millstreet. However, although he was still clear at the summit of the first category Curragh climb, he was reeled in with approximately 20 kilometres remaining.

That made a bunch sprint almost certain and so it proved, with Columbia controlling the various attacks and then having little problems in delivering Cavendish to yet another victory.

Tomorrow's stage sees the race reach its finale on a 185km run from Bantry to Cork. The finishing circuit is, by his own admission, too tough for Cavendish, but the team's emphasis will switch to Pinotti's bid to take home another yellow jersey in this prestigious 2.1 event.

A total of 22 riders are within 26 seconds of Downing's jersey, including Astana's Lance Armstrong. He said that the day required a considerable amount of concentration. "It wasn't as hard as yesterday but there were rough roads, gusting wind, a few hills. It was hard enough."

One who seems certain to attack on the final leg is King of the Mountains leader Matt Wilson (Team Type 1). He missed the break on stage one and so is not in overall contention, but he showed good strength on Saturday's stage and boosted his KOM lead. He now has 39 points, four more than Van Winden.

His accelerations today to take the points from the bunch were very impressive and a big attack from him on St. Patrick's Hill or one of the other climbs on the finishing circuit could bring him strong rewards.

"I went for it on the climbs and now I have a bit more comfortable lead going into the last day," he said. "Tomorrow I am going to just make sure that the guys who are close to me don't get up the road. I would really like to concentrate more on the stage victory tomorrow. These guys will be watching each over for the overall win."

Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff holds the other major jersey, that of points leader. He was fourth on today's stage and ended the day three points ahead of 2008 green jersey victor Downing. "It was a hard day," he proclaimed. "Hills are not my best terrain, but it was okay today. I will get ready for tomorrow, but it is going to be really tough and tight for the overall."

He's ridden the race for the past two years and described St. Patrick's Hill as "really hard." He said that he would try to stay up with the other contenders, and also that he would try to help his team-mates. Cavendish said the same thing, admitting that he wasn't strong enough to go for the stage win on such a tough finishing circuit.

With Pinotti in fifth overall and Craig Lewis just 26 seconds back in 15th however, Columbia-HTC has a chance of more GC success in the race. Other teams feel the same, though, making a humdinger of a stage all the more likely.