Rás victory For Jeffers in Mountrath

Rás na mBan moved into County Laois today for the 104-kilometre Stage 3, with Emma Jeffers crossing the line in first place, ahead of teammate Monica Greenwood for a stunning one-two for Team DAS-Handsling.

Yesterday's stage winner Tiffany Keep of Hutchinson-Brother UK rounded out the podium in third, which was enough to move her into the lead of the Rás na mBan Overall Classification and the magenta jersey.

The longest stage of this year’s race started with a ceremonial presentation outside Laois County Council offices in Portlaoise, before riders headed for the Slieve Bloom Mountains and the challenging ascent of The Cut, followed by a fast run back to the finishing circuit around Mountrath.

An aggressive start to the day broke the pattern of the previous two stages, with multiple attacks seeing several riders going clear, only to be brought back by a bunch interested in keeping the race together.

The peloton remained together by the foot of the day’s only categorised climb, the fearsome 7.4 kilometre Category 1 ascent of The Cut, which riders took on in scorching temperatures with barely a breath of wind to cool them.

Team Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei put three of their riders to work at the front of the bunch, setting a fierce pace for Best Irish Rider leader Linda Kelly. Team Boompods continued to be one of the most active teams in the race, subsequently taking over control to force splits in the peloton.

The high pace continued all the way to the summit, with a group of around 15 riders remaining at the head of the race, including Magenta Jersey Rixt Hoogland and all the other classification leaders.

First rider over the top of The Cut was Queen of the Mountains leader Manon de Boer of NWVG-uplus, extending her hold on