Easter Weekend once again saw stage racing return to Munster with another edition of Rás Mumhan.
The race, as in 2025, started with a Team Time Trial on Friday, April 3rd. The 9.24km route took riders from Ballybunion to Asdee, Co. Kerry. Orwell Wheelers took top spot, with Evan Keane, Liam Crowley and Sean O’Kane crossing the line in just over 10 minutes, with teammates Luke Keaney and Padraig Moran coming through a minute later, having dug deep in the early stages of the route before peeling off. Belgian outfit Limburg Cycling Selection posted the second quickest time of the morning, with Team Dan Morrissey coming in third.
Stage 1B on Friday afternoon would see riders take on 83km, starting from Asdee before three laps of the Athea – Knockanure circuit to finish the day. The stage went right to the line, where Velo Performance Racing Team’s Josh Callaly took the win just ahead of Limburg’s Lars Rouffaer and Sebastian Robles Larsen, riding for Dutch team West Frisia.
His fourth place finish in Stage 1B plus his team’s strong performance in the TTT saw Orwell’s Liam Crowley start Stage 2 in the yellow leader’s jersey. Racing on Day 2 would be across 116km, with over 1200 metres of climbing, with the stage starting in Killarney and ending in Portmagee. An already brutal stage was made even tougher by the weather, with Storm David providing strong winds throughout the day. West Frisia rider Nick Hoorsman battled through those tough conditions to take the win on Stage 2, just two seconds ahead of Foran CT’s Danylo Riwnyj. Riwnyj’s second place on the stage was enough to see him take ownership of the yellow leader’s jersey ahead of Stage 3.
Sunday’s Stage 3 was another gruelling test, with the wind still hammering riders in parts of the 119km route. Leaving Macroom, riders would face another 1300 metres of climbing before finishing at the top of Kerryman’s Table – a finish that blew last year’s race apart in thick fog. The sun shone for this year’s finish however, with Velo Performance taking their second win of the race, as Curtis Neill claimed top spot by 15 seconds. Gabriel Dellar of Ride Revolution Coaching took second, ahead of Fionn Killeen, riding with the Shay Murphy Leinster Development Team.
Foran’s Danylo Riwnyj retained the yellow jersey heading into the final stage with his fourth place finish on Stage 3. Stage 4 would start and finish in Kilorglin, with a 24km loop through Beaufort covered three times, before eight laps of the town circuit. Ride Revolution Coaching rider Gabriel Dellar took the win in Killorglin, taking top spot by four seconds in the uphill sprint finish. West Frisia’s Nick Hoorsman took second with Lars Rouffaer taking third for Limburg.
Danylo Riwnyj’s consistency throughout the weekend saw him take the overall General Classification for Foran CT, 56 seconds ahead of Curtis Neill of Velo Performance in second and Nick Hoorsman in third.
Curtis Neill did however take home the white jersey for winning the Young Rider Classification, while Hoorsman took the polka dot jersey in the King of the Mountains Competition, as his West Frisia team won the Team Classification competition.
Ride Revolution Coaching’s Gabriel Dellar took the green jersey as overall points winner.
Cycling Ireland High Performance Pathway rider Hugh Óg Mulhearne finished the race as top placed Junior, taking fifth in the overall GC, riding with Dornan Cycling Munster.
The Tomás Walsh Trophy, named for the late Comeragh CC rider, was awarded to top C2 finisher, and Walsh’s former clubmate, James O’Shea riding for Velo Revolution/Speed Queen.
Full results are available HERE.
