An Post Rás - Focus on Day Seven

The seventh stage of An Post Rás finished in the hands of the Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam team with Daan Meijers taking the win from teammate Jan Willem Van Schip into Ardee.

Stage five winner Regan Gough (An Post Chain Reaction) came home in third with Darragh O’Mahony (Ireland National Team) finishing best of the Irish riders in fourth.

 With one stage left to go, James Gullen remains at the top of the general classification.

Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Ireland An Post Chain Reaction) retains the King of the Mountains jersey.

Daire Feeley (Galway Team iTap) remains the best of the county riders and tops the county rider table.

Michael O’Loughlin (Britain Team Wiggins) heads the Under 23 table.

In today's stage from Donegal the heavens opened making the challenge even harder for the peloton.

The riders faced 167.3 kilometres, taking them southeast from Donegal town through N Ireland and finishing in Ardee.

Unlike the previous day, which emphasised the climbs, today featured flatter roads with twisting turns, promising for a more open race.

Despite the heavy rain, early on a leading group of six including Jake Gray (Ireland National Team), Dexter Gardias (Britain Bike Channel Canyon), Marc Potts (Britain Neon Velo Cycling Team), Samuel Jenner (Australia National Team), Angus Fyffe (Ireland National Team) and eventual second Jan Willem Van Schip (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) set a nice pace in front.

This group worked hard to maintain a decent gap before the peloton reeled them in at 64 kilometres.

From here, the race came alive with 14 riders going clear by some 50 seconds.

At 82 kilometres, a group of five riders including Darragh O’Mahony (Ireland National Team), Regan Gough (An Post Chain Reaction), Jan Willem Van Schip (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam), Daan Meijers (Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam) and Tilen Finkst (Slovenia ROG Ljubljana) clipped away to make their mark on the race.

Despite the wide open and straight roads, making the break visible for the chasing group, this leading group asserted their dominance on the stage.

With the rain continuing to pour, it was down to who could keep up the pace. 

The breakaway group really knuckled down to the challenge, pushing on to go clear by two minutes and 30 seconds.

At five kilometres to go, it was the two Netherlands Delta Cycling Rotterdam team members in the group who pushed away.

Turning into Ardee, Jan Willem Van Schip and Daan Meijers rolled in together, arms aloft, with Meijers just edging out his team mate to take the win.

Tomorrow's final stage to Skerries willt ake the peloton throunh Meath including Nobber, Navan, Kentstown, Duleek, Bellewstown on the way to Skerries.