Amid terrible weather Russell Downing defended his lead in style to take the overall win in Cork today.

The riders awoke to high winds, heavy showers and a two hour commute to the start in Bantry.  It was a damp and sorry start and the organisers released the riders from the standard individual sign-on procedure so that they wouldn’t get cold.  Unfortunately this meant that the crowd missed out on the usual pre-stage interviews opting to roll out quickly.

Utilising a strong tail wind the pace was high from the off with several large groups putting in strong attacks but an attentive peloton kept reeling them in.  Eventually a group of 3 got clear with a chasing group of 4 more ahead of the bunch.  The leaders were Stuart O’Grady (Team Saxo Bank), Jetse Bol (Rabobank), Jay Thomson (MTN Cycling), and they are being pursued by Kenny Lisabeth (An Post Sean Kelly Team), Shawn Milne (Team Type 1), Peter Williams (Candi TV - Marshalls Pasta) and Alexander Kristoff (Joker Bianchi).  The chasers were caught and Bol dropped back and with a lead of 1′17″, O’Grady became the virtual yellow jersey on the road.  However Thomson had problems with his chain forcing O’Grady to go ahead on his own and as he entered Cork city the peloton were chasing hard catching him before the first pass of the finish line.

A wet Cork

At this stage 7 riders went clear and made the first ascent of St.Patricks Hill.  They included 2008 race winner Marco Pinotti (Team Columbia - HTC), Craig Lewis (Team Columbia - HTC), Karsten Kroon (Team Saxo Bank), Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Bank),  Mathias Frank (BMC Racing Team), Lars Petter Nordhaug (Joker Bianchi) and current yellow jersey Russell Downing (Candi TV - Marshalls Pasta) with Alexander Kolobnev chasing onto the back.

St Patrick’s Hill

Numerous attacks went as they all tried to get clear over the shortened 2 circuits but it was a decisive break inside the last kilometre that saw Lars Petter Nordhaug (Joker Bianchi) and Russell Downing (Candi TV - Marshalls Pasta) sprint to the line with Nordberg celebrating the stage win and Downing the overall title.

Courtesy of the second place on the stage and some sprint points to the start of the circuit Downing also claimed the An Post Green points jersey with Matt Wilson retaining his KOM jersey and Matti Breschel the white young riders jersey.

Armstrong & Cavendish pulled out before Patricks Hill in torrential rain along with almost half the Peloton.  Writing on Twitter Armstrong claimed that “”Rough day today on the bike. The ol’ back was not in a good way and st patty’s hill wasn’t looking too cozy”.

And so the 2009 edition of the Tour of Ireland drew to a close.  The last three days have seen some great racing through stunning scenery and shown Ireland off to the world.  Finally RTE carried Irish cycling as a prime time programme and 75 journalists enjoyed at least 2 days of stunning weather.  Lets hope that next year is as good as this although we will be including a scuba suit as we could have used in on St.Patricks Hill today.

Congratulations to the organisers and volunteers on running such a professional race.  Having seen behind the scenes for the past few days a huge amount of work goes into making it operate so smoothly.  Next year lets hope it can be 5 days including the much talked about time trial from Carrick-on-Shannon to Clonmel that unfortunately had to be cut.

Stage 3 results

* 1. Petter Nordhaug Lars (NOR), Joker Bianchi, 4:00:10
* 2. Russell Downing (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, same time
* 3. Matti Breschel (DEN), Team Saxo Bank, at 0:33
* 4. Craig Lewis (USA), Team Columbia-HTC, s.t.
* 5. Alexander Kolobnev (RUS), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
* 6. Mathias Frank (SUI), BMC Racing Team, s.t.
* 7. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), Rabobank, s.t.
* 8. Marco Pinotti (ITA), Team Columbia-HTC, s.t.
* 9. Karsten Kroon (NED), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
* 10. Denys Kostyuk (UKR), ISD-Neri, s.t.
* 11. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Team Saxo Bank, at 0:42
* 12. Kristian House (GBR), Rapha Condor Cycling Team, at 0:51
* 13. Jason Mccartney (USA), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
* 14. Andrey Grivko (UKR), ISD-Neri, s.t.
* 15. Florian Stalder (SUI), BMC Racing Team, s.t.
* 16. Philip Deignan (IRL), Cervélo TestTeam, s.t.
* 17. Luis Rubiera Jose (ESP), Astana, s.t.
* 18. Michael Schar (SUI), Astana, at 1:02
* 19. Davide Appollonio (ITA), Cervélo TestTeam, at 1:07
* 20. Christoff Van Heerden (RSA), Mtn Cycling, s.t.
* 21. Malcolm Elliott (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, s.t.
* 22. Dale Appleby (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, s.t.
* 23. Danilo Wyss (SUI), BMC Racing Team, s.t.
* 24. Matt Wilson (AUS), Team Type 1, at 2:10
* 25. Sam Bennett (IRL), Irish National Team, at 2:43
* 26. Robert Partridge (GBR), Team Halfords, at 2:46
* 27. Ian Wilkinson (GBR), Team Halfords, s.t.
* 28. Roger Hammond (GBR), Cervélo TestTeam, s.t.
* 29. Gabriel Rasch (NOR), Cervélo TestTeam, s.t.
* 30. Steven Van Vooren (BEL), An Post Sean Kelly Team, s.t.
* 31. Mark O’Brien (AUS), Australian National Team, at 2:51
* 32. Peter Williams (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, at 5:38
* 33. Timothy Roe (AUS), Australian National Team, s.t.
* 34. Pierpaolo De Negri (ITA), ISD-Neri, at06:20
* 35. Frantisek Rabon (CZE), Team Columbia-HTC, at 6:43
* 36. Paul Griffin (IRL), Irish National Team, at 7:27
* 37. Antonio Cruz (USA), BMC Racing Team, at 8:01
* 38. Stian Remme (NOR), Joker Bianchi, at 8:23
* 39. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED), Rabobank, s.t.
* 40. Mark Mcnally (GBR), Team Halfords, s.t.
* 41. Juan Van Heerden (RSA), Mtn Cycling, s.t.
* 42. Ian Mcleod (RSA), Mtn Cycling, at 8:35
* 43. Chris Newton (GBR), Rapha Condor Cycling Team, at 10:06
* 44. Stuart O’Grady (AUS), Team Saxo Bank, at 13:44
* 45. Asle Arvesen Kurt (NOR), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
* 46. Alexander Kristoff (NOR), Joker Bianchi, at 20:50
* 47. G Sortveit Sondre (NOR), Joker Bianchi, s.t.

GC standings | ( Stage results)

* 1. Russell Downing (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, 14:18:03
* 2. Petter Nordhaug Lars (NOR), Joker Bianchi, at 0:23
* 3. Matti Breschel (DEN), Team Saxo Bank, at 0:43
* 4. Alexander Kolobnev (RUS), Team Saxo Bank, at 0:45
* 5. Marco Pinotti (ITA), Team Columbia-HTC, at 0:49
* 6. Mathias Frank (SUI), BMC Racing Team, at 1:03
* 7. Craig Lewis (USA), Team Columbia-HTC, at 1:05
* 8. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), Rabobank, at 1:06
* 9. Denys Kostyuk (UKR), Isd-Neri, s.t.
* 10. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
* 11. Karsten Kroon (NED), Team Saxo Bank, s.t.
* 12. Philip Deignan (IRL), Cervélo Test Team, at 1:08
* 13. Andrey Grivko (UKR), Isd-Neri, at 1:21
* 14. Florian Stalder (SUI), BMC Racing Team, at 1:24
* 15. Kristian House (GBR), Rapha Condor Cycling Team, at 3:17
* 16. Gabriel Rasch (NOR), Cervélo Test Team, at 3:19
* 17. Jason Mccartney (USA), Team Saxo Bank, at 3:20
* 18. Luis Rubiera Jose (ESP), Astana, s.t.
* 19. Michael Schar (SUI), Astana, at 3:31
* 20. Christoff Van Heerden (RSA), Mtn Cycling, at 3:36
* 21. Malcolm Elliott (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, s.t.
* 22. Davide Appollonio (ITA), Cervélo Test Team, s.t.
* 23. Danilo Wyss (SUI), BMC Racing Team, s.t.
* 24. Matt Wilson (AUS), Team Type 1, at 4:39
* 25. Sam Bennett (IRL), Irish National Team, at 5:12
* 26. Ian Wilkinson (GBR), Team Halfords, at 5:15
* 27. Steven Van Vooren (BEL), An Post Sean Kelly Team, s.t.
* 28. Roger Hammond (GBR), Cervélo Test Team, s.t.
* 29. Robert Partridge (GBR), Team Halfords, s.t.
* 30. Mark O’brien (AUS), Australian National Team, at 5:20
* 31. Timothy Roe (AUS), Australian National Team, at 8:07
* 32. Frantisek Rabon (CZE), Team Columbia-HTC, at 9:38
* 33. Antonio Cruz (USA), BMC Racing Team, at 10:30
* 34. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED), Rabobank, at 10:52
* 35. Mark Mcnally (GBR), Team Halfords, s.t.
* 36. Juan Van Heerden (RSA), Mtn Cycling, s.t.
* 37. Stian Remme (NOR), Joker Bianchi, s.t.
* 38. Ian Mcleod (RSA), Mtn Cycling, at 11:04
* 39. Chris Newton (GBR), Rapha Condor Cycling Team, at 12:35
* 40. Pierpaolo De Negri (ITA), Isd-Neri, at 13:01
* 41. Stuart O’grady (AUS), Team Saxo Bank, at 14:10
* 42. Dale Appleby (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, at 15:41
* 43. Asle Arvesen Kurt (NOR), Team Saxo Bank, at 16:13
* 44. Peter Williams (GBR), Candi TV-Marshalls Pasta, at 20:12
* 45. Paul Griffin (IRL), Irish National Team, at 22:01
* 46. Alexander Kristoff (NOR), Joker Bianchi, at 23:12
* 47. G Sortveit Sondre (NOR), Joker Bianchi, at 23:19