May 21, 2007 (Loughrea, Ireland) – The warm Irish sun continued to shine on the Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team, presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in stage two of the FBD Insurance Ras. Team racer, Jesse Anthony retained his King of the Mountains (KOM) points lead and moved up to second place in the General Classification (GC), while Dominique Rollin, with his second consecutive fourth place stage finish, moved to fourth in the GC and took over the points leader’s green jersey.

The field set off at 11:00am from the village of Templemore on their way to Loughrea, slightly less than 100 miles to the west across central Ireland. There were no major challenges anticipated by the riders on the relatively flat and protected stage. Under uncharacteristically sunny and warm skies, the peloton coursed its way along the narrow, rough and twisty country roads as a group with no breakaways allowed to go free. The stage’s three KOM climbs proved to be the day’s primary protagonists.

The first KOM featured a long, gradual climb. Wanting to keep Anthony in the KOM leader’s jersey, the Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team set tempo for the field leading into the climb. Anthony’s teammate Dominique Rollin, the Canadian National Champion, set a pace that proved too difficult for most of the field to match. With additional pressure on the field from Ben Raby, the Team was able to position Anthony for a decisive sprint against Under 23 (U23) points leader, and KOM runner-up, Ricardo Van der Velde. Anthony won the sprint to the summit with a bike throw and noted with a laugh after the race, “it isn’t very often that you have to throw your bike to win a mountain top sprint”

Setting up for the day’s second KOM climb, Van der Velde and two other riders launched an attack before the bottom of the climb to take a small advantage on the field. The entire Kodak Gallery Team moved to the front of the peloton and set a rapid tempo that again quickly splintered the peloton. Nearly 2 kilometers from the summit, Anthony attacked to try to recapture the break away riders. Despite coming within 50 meters of making the catch, Anthony lost the sprint to Van der Velde.

Over the top of the hill, the four riders worked together to establish a break away. Riding with nine others, Rollin joined Anthony in the break that now had 14 riders and enough horsepower to maintain a 25 second advantage heading into the day’s final KOM climb. Rollin again moved to the front and set the tempo for Anthony who was able to easily take the sprint at the top by more than ten bike lengths. The win secured Anthony’s position atop the KOM points contest for the stage.

The breakaway riders worked well together and increased their lead to over a minute in the closing miles. As the final group was driving for the finish line sprint, two riders attacked, catching Kodak Gallery riders Anthony and Rollin without anyone else willing to help close the gap. In a mad dash to the line before hundreds of screaming school children, Rollin captured fourth, a high enough placing to take the points leader’s jersey. Anthony finished with the same time, which moved him to second in the GC and second in the competition for the best young rider.

After being forced to work alone at the end of the stage, Dominique Rollin commented on taking the points leader’s jersey fourth at the line, “I feel great. I am a bit disappointed because I couldn’t be in the fight for the win today – I showed myself a bit too much leading out our climber today and everyone was watching me.”

After the award ceremony Anthony’s excitement was palpable, “I’m really excited to be leading the KOM competition. I’d like to be leading in the best young rider contest or in the overall, but this is great! I am feeling really good now and hopefully my form will continue to improve as the week goes on.”

Team director, Kurt Stockton was also excited by the team’s great showing in its first race in Europe, but added, “There is a reason why this race has not been won by a foreign rider since 1989. We know there is a long hard week of racing ahead on roads that will test our riders and equipment. We are concentrating on staying focused on the job at hand and to making sure the team keeps riding at the front of the field where it can control the race and stay out of trouble.”

Stage 3 will see the race travel from Loughrea, County Galway north 106 miles to Sligo.

Results (Unofficial) – 147 kms

1. Brian Kenneally (Meath MyHome.ie/BDBC) 3:22:21
2. Tony Martin (Ger) Thuringer Energy 0:02
3. Ryan Roth (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast
4. Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodak Gallery Sierra Nevada
5. René Birkenfeld (Ger) Stevens Von Hacht
6. Paul Griffin (Ire) Subway
7. Peter McDonald (Aus) FRF Couriers)
8. Mark Cassidy (Ire) Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M. Donnelly Sean Kelly
9. Yvo Kusters (Ned)
10. Ricardo Van der Velde (Ned)
11. Jesse Anthony (USA) Kodak Gallery Sierra Nevada
12. Dennis Kreder (Ned) 0:12
13. Justin Spinelli (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast 0:55
14. Chris Newton (Gbr) Stena Line/Recycling.co.uk 1:04
15. Josef Soukup (CZE) Republic Sparta Praha 1:06