Superb Holohan grabs stage win

MADISON Genesis rider Liam Holohan soloed to a superb victory on stage seven of An Post Rás yesterday. The 26-yearold was part of a sevenman break which led for the majority of the race before attacking out front, managing to stay away and give his team their first stage victory on this year’s race.

Hamish Schruers (New Zealand National Team) edged a close sprint with Robert Partridge (Britain Velosure Giordana) to take second place, 46 seconds behind Holohan.

The penultimate day’s racing saw another tough day in the saddle for the 125 riders who made the start line.

A total of seven climbs, including two category ones in quick succession, had to be conquered before the peloton reached the finish 147 kilometres away in Baltinglass.

With the battle very tight at the top of the general classification, an action packed day was envisaged and the first attack came very early on from Friday’s stage winner Marcus Eibegger (Azerbaijan Synergy Baku) and Davide Ballerini (Italy Team Idea).

The duo were swiftly swallowed up by the peloton but successfully broke clear again shortly after with a group of six other riders including Holohan, Patridge, Schreurs, George E. Tansley (Australia Team Subaru-Albion) and Shane Archbold (An Post Chain Reaction).