Day: Wednesday
Date: 20/05/98
Weather: Sunny 28oC
Subject: Stage 5 Listowel to Castletownbere 91.04 miles @ avg. 25.77mph
GC & Stage Details:
| Number | Name | Position | GC Time | Deficit | Stage Time |
| 57 | Wayne Randle | 5 | 17:26:56 | 1:17 | 3:31:57 @ 0:00 |
| 56 | Robin Numan | 42 | 17:35:31 | 9:52 | 3:38:56 @ 6:59 |
| 59 | Will Sanderson | 69 | 17:41:15 | 15:36 | 3:38:56 @ 6:59 |
| 60 | Julian Mortel | 117 | 18:03:53 | 38:14 | 3:52:10 @20:13 |
| 58 | Duncan Hewitt | 131 | 18:16:04 | 50:25 | 4:03:00 @32:03 |
At 5 miles today Wayne, Mark Lovatt & a French lad went away, a further 15 riders joined them & they stayed away until the first 1st cat climb. At this point a crash caused a split on the climb of Ladies View which allowed Wayne, Tommy Evans & Sigvard Kukk to breakaway & stay away until Castletownbere by 42". Wayne got 3rd in the sprint but won all of the KOM’s except the first 3rd cat. As a result Wayne is leading the KOM with 84 points by 38 points over Tommy Evans. It was a close run into the finish with Cairan Power finishing strongly driving his group to close from 2’00" to 42" in the last 5 miles. With this Wayne is safely in 5th spot overall @ 1’17" with the 6th rider @ 3’46". Rob & Will were in the 5th group the main bunch which I lost on Molls Gap.
The stage was long, hot & hilly. So hot the tar was melting on the road .So hilly it was worthy of the Tour de France. The final climb of Healy Pass (1st cat) was 6 miles long. So that’s 3 No. 1st cat climbs, 1 No. 2nd & 2 No. 3rd cat climbs on the roughest roads this side of the Irish Sea.
Dunc suffered in the heat today & is praying for a downpour. However I’ve seen the forecast, dream on Dunc.
Today 2 riders did not finish. 2 bike frames broke.
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