Mark Cavendish (Columbia) has not raced since retiring from the Tour de France but showed he has not lost his natural high
speed sprint. He beat New Zealand’s Julian Dean (Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30) and Alexander Kristoff (Joker-Bianchi
Team) of Norway in a bunch sprint after 192km of racing across the spectacular Irish countryside.
It was Cavendish’s
thirteenth win of the 2008 season and he has now added a stage in at the Tour of Ireland to his two stages wins in the Giro
d’Italia and his four stage wins in the Tour de France.
The opening stage of the Tour of Ireland was from Dublin
to Waterford. It was not a flat easy stage but Cavendish fought to stay with the leaders on the climbs, knowing that he had
a great chance of winning the stage and taking the first leader’s jersey.
Following several short-lived breakaway attempts,
Travis Meyer (SouthAustralia.com), David George (MTN South Africa) and Irish rider Martyn Irvine (Pezula) built a 15-second
advantage. Seeing the opportunity, Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon ordered Aussie Matt Wilson to jump across the gap.
The four quickly worked together to build a lead
that topped off at nearly eight minutes. Meanwhile, Wilson was racking up King of the Mountains points by winning the Category
1 climb of Mount Leinster. By the time the leaders reached the hot spot sprint in Borris 83 miles into the race, it was only
Wilson and Meyer at the front, as the other two escapees could not keep pace.
The two could not hold off the charging efforts
of Team Colombia and Garmin-Chipotle, though. With less than six miles remaining, Wilson and Meyer were reeled in.
Wilson told Cyclingnews.com reporter Shane Stokes
that it would have been hard to stay away to the finish.
"I was really hoping that a few more guys would
come along with us and we would have a better chance of staying away and setting up a bit of a GC (general classification),"
Wilson said. "But there was only four of us out there and unfortunately we lost two of them about halfway through, so there
was just me and the other Aussie guy left out front. He was really strong and we gave it a good shot."
Wilson told Ben Delaney of VeloNews.com that he
has a good chance of hanging onto the red jersey of King of the Mountain leader.
"I've got a strong team here, so I'm sure they'll
help me defend it," Wilson said.
Stage winner Mark Cavendish said: "I was really pleased with the way the team rode today. Everybody
saw how well they worked for me and like always they pulled the break back and then set me up for the sprint," Cavendish said
gratefully.
"My form is not so good after just travelling back from Beijing, so it just shows how you need such a strong
team behind you. I think we’ve shown all year how strong we are as a team, and to come to Ireland and do it again is
perfect. To come away with the yellow jersey after the first stage is even better."
The five-day Tour of Ireland runs
until Sunday and Cavendish and Team Columbia have a chance for more stage victories and perhaps even overall success. Thursday’s
second stage is from Thurles to Loughrea in the centre of Ireland over a distance of 158km. The stage includes two early climbs
but then flattens out in the second half. Cavendish is hoping to quickly find his best form so that he can defend the race
leader’s jersey as long as possible.
