Abgrall dominates Rás with powerful finish in the Rower

French National Road Race Champion Noémie Abgrall (Ladynamips RVC) powered clear of her rivals to take victory at The Rower, County Kilkenny on the 101km fourth stage this afternoon, with Team Greece’s Varvara Fasoi taking second ahead of Denmark’s Olympia Norrid-Mortensen (TorellI) in third.

Abgrall’s stage win and the accompanying 10 bonus seconds saw her move into the magenta jersey as overall race leader, taking over from Amelia Cebak who finished the day in 14th place.

Breton native Abgrall also claimed 25 of the maximum 27 mountains points possible on the stage’s three categorised climbs to tie up the IVCA Wicklow 200 Queen of the Mountains Classification, with no categorised climbs left on this year’s race.

Dry but blustery conditions greeted the riders on this morning’s departure from Kilkenny City, with a strong headwind limiting the appetite for any early attacks.

Strong pace-setting by the WV Breda team of stage two victor and second placed rider overall Noor Dekker ensured the race began the first ascent of The Rower intact, with the Dutch team keen to give their leader an opportunity to claim bonus seconds at the following intermediate sprint.

Dekker survived the first of three QoM ascents in the main bunch, with Abgrall taking maximum mountains points at the finiah line with 46.5km to go, leading the main group which had thinned down to around 30 riders under the pressure applied at the front.

The intermediate sprint came just six kilometres after the climb, where Dekker repaid the efforts of her teammates to claim the maximum three bonus seconds, making her provisional race leader on the road, having started the day just one second behind magenta jersey Cebak.

The second QoM climb of Coppenagh soon followed, with Wexford rider Linda Kelly (Cycling Ireland Women’s Commission) powering clear on the six-kilometre ascent. Kelly, pilot for tandem partner Katie-George Dunlevy, put on a powerful display to open up a maximum advantage of 35 seconds on the bunch, claiming the maximum points on the QoM in the process, while Abgrall led the chasing bunch over the top to mathematically secure the mountains classification with one climb to go.

Alert to the danger Kelly posed to their leaders contending for overall race victory, Abgrall’s Ladynamips RVC team joined forces with several other squads to close the gap to the Irish rider, eventually reeling the lone escapee in with 15 kilometres remaining.

A series of attacks and counter-attacks followed, however Team Aalborg Sparekassen assumed control at the front of the bunch to keep the main group of favourites all together as they began the final rise to the finish in The Rower.

Team Ireland’s Esther Wong initially strung the group out, before Abgrall’s Ladynamips RVC teammate and winner of stages one and three, Océane Goergen, moved to the front to set a fierce pace, teeing up the QoM jersey wearer for a third victory for the French team from four stages.

Despite her solo foray earlier in the stage, Linda Kelly demonstrated impressive powers of recovery to finish fifth on the stage, regaining control of the Kilkenny County Council Best Irish Rider classification.

A third-place finish and six bonus seconds for Olympia Norrid-Mortensen earned her the lead of the Sport Ireland Best Young Rider standings, while a fourth place on the stage for Alice McWilliam (Team Phoenix) moved her into the Cycling Ireland Points jersey.

For stage winner Abgrall, the 10 bonus seconds promoted her to the top of the general classification and into the magenta jersey, with Dekker now sitting second overall just three seconds behind, followed by McWilliam at four seconds.

Tomorrow morning sees the riders take on a short but intense 2.5 kilometre time trial around Kilkenny Castle for stage five, followed by a one hour and five laps city centre criterium race for the sixth and final stage, with overall victory still very much up for grabs.