Conn McDunphy Takes the 71st Rás Tailteann
Last week saw the return of Rás Tailteann, for what was the 71st edition of Ireland’s premiere men’s stage race.
The race saw riders tackle almost 800km of racing over five stages, starting from O’Moore Park in Co. Laois. Stage 1 took the 139 riders 161km to the finish in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, with Rowen Baker of Isle of Man CC taking the stage win ahead of Connacht’s Ewan Mackie in second and this year’s Rás Mumhan winner Danylo Riwnyj of Foran CT in third.
Baker donned the yellow race leader’s jersey for the start of stage 2, in which riders set off from Rathmore, Co. Kerry, before finishing 184km later in Banteer, Co. Cork. A stage that saw a lot of climbing and inclement weather took no prisoners, with 128 riders making it to the end of the stage. Chief among those finishers was Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli rider Tim Shoreman. O’Leary Stone Kanturk were delighted to see one of their riders make the podium on home roads, with Willem O’Connor taking second ahead of APS Pro Cycling’s Conn McDunphy in third. Consistent performances across the first two stages left McDunphy’s teammate Adam Lewis leading the General Classification and wearing yellow to start Stage 3.
Stage 3 left Mitchelstown in Co. Cork at a blistering pace, averaging nearly 60km/h in the early part of the stage. When riders arrived at the finish in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford 155km later, it was another APS Pro Cycling rider in Liam Flanagan crossing the line first. Shoreman of Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli took second on the stage with McDunphy third.
Taking to the start line of the penultimate stage the GC lead was within APS and McDunphy’s sights. The stage, starting in Carlow and finishing in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow was set to be a huge challenge for many riders, with 136.5km and a significant amount of climbing on the Wicklow roads on the menu for the day. Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli continued their strong form on Irish roads and took the stage win with Tom Martin, with Joshua Dike of Spanish outfit Natural Greatness Rali Ale in second and Stage 1 winner Rowen Baker in third. APS and McDunphy did enough however, and would enter the final day in yellow.
The final stage of this year’s Rás left Carlow once again and finished with laps of Dunboyne, Co. Meath. Conn McDunphy would take 34th on the stage, but in the leading group - enough to see him crowned overall winner for 2026. McDunphy’s teammate Liam Flanagan took his second stage win in Dunboyne, with the previous stage winner Tom Armstrong taking second and Dan Morrissey Pissei rider Matteo Cigala taking third.
While McDunphy took home the yellow overall GC winner’s jersey, his teammate Liam Flanagan took the red stage winner jersey. O’Leary Stone Kanturk Willem O’Connor staked his claim to both the white young rider classification and the blue Irish County Rider jersey while Wheelbase Steeltech Castelli rider Tim Shoreman won the green Points Classification jersey.
The King of the Mountain competition was won by Irish national team rider Liam Crowley. The 24-year-old, who took the jersey on Stage 2 and held onto it until the finish in Dunboyne, found himself in a leadership role in this year’s Rás as the oldest rider in the Irish team. This year’s national team featured first year U23 rider Conor Murphy, who unfortunately bowed out of the race due to injury, 21-year-old Jack Conroy in his national team debut, and two junior riders in Hugh Óg Mulhearne and Fionn Killeen.
Coach Martyn Irvine said afterwards: “The two juniors gave a great account of themselves all week and slotted right into the team and the environment. The fact that Liam had the jersey gave the team something to work for throughout the race. That sort of experience is invaluable for our young riders.”
Hugh Óg Mulhearne reflected on his first Rás experience; “Overall it was an amazing experience. I feel like I learned a lot over the week from race tactics to the team environment. It was nice having Martyn over the team for the week as well. I think as a team we can be proud of our performances particularly on the Saturday and Sunday, making breaks and staying active at the front.”
Fionn Killeen echoed Mulhearne’s reflection, adding; “It was an enjoyable five days of hard racing. From being part of the Irish set up to racing against the best riders in the race, I learned a lot on and off the bike. Hopefully now I can take this positive experience into my next block of racing.”
The national team was given special dispensation from Rás organisers this year to include two junior riders in the race for developmental purposes. The Rás is primarily organised by a team of volunteers, and would not be possible without the year round dedication of these volunteers.
Organiser Gearoid Campbell said afterwards: “Rás Tailteann is obviously an ultra-important event to us and to the Irish sporting scene in general. It takes 49 weeks of work to put five days on the road, all on a completely voluntary basis, so it genuinely means the world to us, to Cairde Rás Tailteann and to the absolute army of volunteers involved.
Behind the scenes there is a massive operation. We have approximately 100 race officials involved, 150 riders, over 110 team staff, around 350 static marshals across the route, nine Gardaí, a seven-person medical crew, 17 moto marshals, traffic management companies and countless local volunteers helping in host towns and villages. It is a huge collective effort to keep this moving spectacle on the road safely.
We are incredibly thankful to every volunteer, sponsor, council, Garda, community group, media outlet and supporter who played a role in making the 71st edition happen. Events like this simply do not happen without that goodwill and support.
It means an enormous amount to myself and Ger to continue putting the Rás on the road together and to see the reaction the race receives all across the country and abroad.”
Full results are available here.
A major thank you must be offered to the race organisers, volunteers, sponsors and Sport Ireland for making this event possible.