A pair of 23-year-olds shared the spotlight in Dublin Sunday, as Italian Marco Marcato (Team LPR) took the victory on the final stage of the Tour of Ireland, while Unibet.com Belgian neo-pro Stijn Vandenbergh won the overall, leading start to finish.
The 23-year-old Italian had the best legs of the trio that had escaped from the clutches of the main field at the 60km mark after the race had left Athlone in the morning sunshine.
The 23-year-old Belgian held onto the yellow jersey he won on the opening stage of the Tour of Ireland into Cork last Wednesday, when he finished safely in the main field outside Government Buildings in Merrion Square Sunday. Although a three man breakaway group lapped the field on the 2.4km finishing circuit, Vandenbergh retained his week long lead of 20 seconds over CSC's Marcus Ljungvist with American Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile) one second behind in third.
After the race, Vandenbergh was happy with his week in Ireland. "This week I've had my first professional win, my first yellow jersey and my first overall victory, so it's been a great week for me," he said. "It's been a little bit stressful. CSC made it hard for me, but the yellow jersey gives you an enormous boost."
Irish road race champion David O'Loughlin was denied a home victory on the final stage when his breakaway companions Marcato and Thomas Berkhout of Rabobank jumped clear of the Mayoman in the final metres to steal his thunder in the capital city.
The American-based Navigators professional has had an unlucky final two days in his home Tour. Saturday, with the race passing through hi home village of Cong, O'Loughlin was part of a late escape but broke a spoke in the closing kilometres. Sunday, he instigated the move of the day shortly after the Hot Spot sprint at Kinnegad and was joined by Marcato and Berkhout.
The trio built up a lead of over five minutes on the peloton, and even had time to wait on Marcato when he punctured midway through the stage. With the intention of getting onto the finishing circuit with a good gap on the rest of the field, they had so much of a lead they lapped the field after just three of the ten laps of a 2.4km circuit around Merrion Square.
There was a bit of confusion as the leaders made contact with the back of the bunch, but they soon forged clear again and were left to battle it out for stage glory. Berkhout jumped ahead on the last lap with O'Loughlin and eventual winner Marcato playing cat and mouse behind. The Italian clipped ahead in the final metres to pass Berkhout and take his LPR team's second stage win of the week, with a dejected O'Loughlin third.
"I'm really disappointed," said O'Loughlin, the three time Irish road race champion. "I missed out the first day, so I had to try and be aggressive and get into breakaways. I tried to get away all day. I think I was the first to attack, but I've been chased down all week. I don't know if it's because I'm wearing the national champions jersey or what, but it's been hard to get up the road. I even contemplated wearing my blue Navigators shorts this morning and a gilet!
"We waited for Marcato when he punctured, because we needed him as we were still a long way out," he added. "We saw the bunch entering the circuit just ahead of us as we finished the first lap and knew if we caught them it would cause a bit of chaos. I was watching Marcato on the last lap, then the Dutch guy jumped us. Myself and Marcato played a bit of cat and mouse but there were only two corners left when he jumped me. It's been a fantastic week, the crowds have been great. The weather's been great. I'm just glad that this race came along in my career. It's a huge motivation for aspiring young Irish riders now. I've got the Tour of Britain next so I'm looking forward to that now."
Although race winner Vandenbergh's Unibet team have lost their sponsor for next year, the Belgian is not too worried about his career prospects. "The team is looking for another sponsor but I will wait and see what happens," he said. "Perhaps I will ride for a smaller team or maybe we will get another sponsor. I am happy to wait and see if we get a sponsor for the team before I sign a contract."
It's also been a great week for the little LPR team with them taking two stage wins and the King of the Mountains title. "This is my first victory of the year, so I am very happy," said a smiling Marcato. "It is thanks to the team, because they have been perfect this week. It's my third career success, and I was in need of a win this year. I have tried to escape and today I proved my condition is good and also the team has proved we are a successful team."
The only classification change on the final day was the recapture of the green jersey by Danish sprinter Matti Breschel of Team CSC. The stage winner into Killarney won the opening Hot Spot sprint today in Kinnegad and also took points at the finish to wrest the An Post points jersey off the shoulders of Maxbo-Bianchi's overnight leader Edvald Boassen Hagen.
"I was a bit stiff this morning, but my directeur sportif asked me to try and go for the points, so I tried," said the 23-year-old Dane. "I won the first sprint and took a couple of points at the finish. It's been a great experience. I've enjoyed it. Except for one day, the weather was really nice. The race was very well organised. The country is beautiful. I've even thought about grabbing a backpack and coming back for a holiday!"
Results >1 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team L.P.R. 3.04.20 (48.076 km/h) >2 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental >3 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 0.08 >4 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental 2.30 >5 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC >6 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team >7 Joachim Bohler (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >8 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Unibet.com >9 Stijn Vandenberg (Bel) Unibet.com >10 Michael Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >11 Edvald Boassen Hagen (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >12 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >13 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Team L.P.R. >14 Tony Gibb (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >15 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Rabobank Continental >16 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com >17 Borut Bozic (Slo) Team L.P.R. >18 Charles Dionne (Can) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >19 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC >20 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Irish National Team >21 Toms Veelers (Ned) Rabobank Continental >22 Evan Oliphant (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >23 Nazareno Rossi (Swi) Team L.P.R. >24 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Unibet.com >25 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >26 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC >27 Andy Guptill (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >28 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team L.P.R. >29 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >30 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >31 Roger Beauchat (Swi) Team L.P.R. >32 Roberto Traficante (Ita) Team L.P.R. >33 Kristian House (GBr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team >34 Svein Vold (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >35 Marcel Beima (Ned) T-Mobile Team >36 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >37 Paul Griffin (Irl) Irish National Team >38 Glenn Bak (Den) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >39 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >40 Aaron Olson (USA) T-Mobile Team >41 Mark Cassidy (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >42 Ian Stannard (GBr) T-Mobile Team >43 Adam Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >44 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >45 Derek Burke (Irl) Irish National Team >46 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank Continental >47 Francesco Tomei (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >48 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >49 Moises Aldape Chaves (Mex) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >50 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team >51 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >52 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >53 David McCann (Irl) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >54 Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team >55 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC >56 Ryan Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >57 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >58 Mike Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >59 Simon Holt (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >60 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >61 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >62 Daniele Colli (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >63 Isaac Speirs (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >64 Brian Keneally (Irl) Irish National Team >65 Danny Pate (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >66 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >67 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >68 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC >69 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC >70 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >71 Stian Sommerseth (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >72 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >73 Troels Vinther (Den) Unibet.com >74 Daniel Vaillancourt (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >75 Tom Diggle (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >76 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team >77 Filippo Savini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >78 Hamish Haynes (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >79 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank Continental >80 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Continental >81 Timothy Duggan (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >82 Patrick McCarty (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >83 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >84 Gordon McCauley (NZl) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >85 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >86 Glen Chadwick (NZl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 4.50 >87 Rieno Stofferis (Bel) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >DNF Sven De Weerdt (Bel) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >DNF Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >DNS Adam Bergman (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
Sprints >Sprint 1: Kinnegad >1 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 5 pts >2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 3 >3 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team 2 >4 Edvald Boassen Hagen (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 1 > >Sprint 2: Lucan >1 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 5 pts >2 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 3 >3 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team L.P.R. 2 >4 Edvald Boassen Hagen (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 1 > >Sprint 3: Finish line third passage >1 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 5 pts >2 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team L.P.R. 3 >3 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 2 >4 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 1
Team competition >1 Rabobank 9.18.00 >2 Team LPR >3 Navigators Insurance Cycling 0.08 >4 Unibet.com 2.30 >5 Team Maxbo-Bianchi >6 Team CSC >7 T-Mobile Team >8 Murphy & Gunn >9 South Australia AIS >10 Colavita Sutter Home Cycling >11 Irish National Team >12 Recycling >13 DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed >14 Ceramica Panaria Navigare >15 Plowman Craven Evans Cycles >16 Team Slipstream
Final general classification >1 Stijn Vandenberg (Bel) Unibet.com 21.20.21 >2 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 0.20 >3 Aaron Olson (USA) T-Mobile Team 0.21 >4 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 0.24 >5 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Unibet.com 0.27 >6 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 0.28 >7 Glenn Bak (Den) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly 0.43 >8 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 2.37 >9 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 11.03 >10 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team L.P.R. 12.30 >11 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 13.12 >12 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 13.20 >13 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team 13.28 >14 Borut Bozic (Slo) Team L.P.R. 13.34 >15 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 13.43 >16 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank Continental >17 Moises Aldape Chaves (Mex) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >18 Kristian House (GBr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 13.45 >19 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team L.P.R. >20 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >21 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team >22 David McCann (Irl) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >23 Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >24 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 13.57 >25 Roberto Traficante (Ita) Team L.P.R. 14.00 >26 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC >27 Danny Pate (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 14.11 >28 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 14.23 >29 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 14.31 >30 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 14.38 >31 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 15.00 >32 Gordon McCauley (NZl) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing 15.10 >33 Michael Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 15.54 >34 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Rabobank Continental >35 Paul Griffin (Irl) Irish National Team >36 Ryan Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >37 Adam Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >38 Mark Cassidy (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >39 Timothy Duggan (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >40 Hamish Haynes (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >41 Brian Keneally (Irl) Irish National Team 16.13 >42 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed 26.48 >43 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >44 Francesco Tomei (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 27.08 >45 Roger Beauchat (Swi) Team L.P.R. 28.04 >46 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Continental 39.46 >47 Patrick McCarty (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 39.50 >48 Charles Dionne (Can) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 39.51 >49 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental >50 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com >51 Andy Guptill (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >52 Toms Veelers (Ned) Rabobank Continental >53 Joachim Bohler (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >54 Mike Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle >55 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank Continental >56 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >57 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >58 Daniele Colli (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare >59 Stian Sommerseth (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >60 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 40.32 >61 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 41.13 >62 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 41.58 >63 Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team >64 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly 41.59 >65 Nazareno Rossi (Swi) Team L.P.R. 42.00 >66 Evan Oliphant (GBr) DFL - Cyclingnews - Litespeed >67 Svein Vold (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi >68 Daniel Vaillancourt (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >69 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >70 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >71 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >72 Isaac Speirs (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >73 Tom Diggle (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >74 Ian Stannard (GBr) T-Mobile Team 42.20 >75 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing >76 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Team L.P.R. 42.22 >77 Derek Burke (Irl) Irish National Team 42.35 >78 Simon Holt (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 42.44 >79 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Irish National Team 44.02 >80 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 44.54 >81 Glen Chadwick (NZl) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 45.02 >82 Rieno Stofferis (Bel) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly 46.22 >83 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Unibet.com 46.36 >84 Troels Vinther (Den) Unibet.com 51.08 >85 Tony Gibb (GBr) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing 52.52 >86 Marcel Beima (Ned) T-Mobile Team 52.54 >87 Filippo Savini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 54.24 > >Sprint classification >1 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 60 pts >2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 51 >3 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team 43 >4 Borut Bozic (Slo) Team L.P.R. 41 >5 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 34 > >Mountains classification >1 Roger Beauchat (Swi) Team L.P.R. 67 pts >2 Gordon McCauley (NZl) Plowman Craven - Evans Cycles Racing 38 >3 Danny Pate (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 36 >4 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 23 >5 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 20 > >Best young rider classification >1 Stijn Vandenberg (Bel) Unibet.com 21.20.21 >2 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 0.24 >3 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Unibet.com 0.27 >4 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 0.28 >5 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 11.03 >6 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team L.P.R. 12.30 >7 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 13.12 >8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 13.20 >9 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank Continental 13.43 >10 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi 13.45 >11 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team >12 Roberto Traficante (Ita) Team L.P.R. 14.00 >13 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 14.38 >14 Michael Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS 15.54 >15 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Rabobank Continental >16 Ryan Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >17 Adam Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk >18 Mark Cassidy (Irl) Murphy & Gunn - Newlyn - M. Donnelly - Sean Kelly >19 Francesco Tomei (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 27.08 >20 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Continental 39.46 >21 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental 39.51 >22 Andy Guptill (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light >23 Toms Veelers (Ned) Rabobank Continental >24 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS >25 Stian Sommerseth (Nor) Team Maxbo Bianchi
Team classification >1 Unibet.com 64.15.12 >2 Team LPR 11.19 >3 Team CSC 13.44 >4 T-Mobile Team 13.48 >5 Team Maxbo-Bianchi 13.49 >6 Team Slipstream >7 Navigators Insurance Cycling 15.45 >8 Rabobank 24.36 >9 Ceramica Panaria Navigare 27.26 >10 Recycling 30.03 >11 DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 31.24 >12 Irish National Team 33.53 >13 South Australia AIS 39.55 >14 Murphy & Gunn 44.30 >15 Colavita Sutter Home Cycling 1.19.18 >16 Plowman Craven Evans Cycles 1.23.36
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