RAS REACTION: DEAN DOWNING ON WINNING STAGE TWO

FBD Insurance Ras logo

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman fought out the finish of stage two of the FBD Insurance Ras in Claremorris this afternoon.

The Irishman, Stephen Gallagher of the squad with the longest name in cycling (An Post-M Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly) took the yellow jersey. The Englishman, Dean Downing (Stena-Rapha-Condor-Recycling) won the stage and took the green jersey as leader of the points competition. The Scotsman, Plowman Craven?s Evan Oliphant may have ended the day empty-handed but he?s given his chances of mounting an overall challenge the world of good and will be one to watch for the remainder of the week.

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Sports journalist Lionel Birnie has written professionally for Sunday Times, Procycling and of course Cycling Weekly. He is also an author, publisher, and co-founder of The Cycling Podcast. His first experience covering the Tour de France came in 1999, and he has presented The Cycling Podcast with Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe since 2013. He founded Peloton Publishing in 2010 and has ghostwritten and published the autobiography of Sean Kelly, as well as a number of other sports icons.