The Inishowen Gateway Hotel team woke yesterday morning to blue skies ahead of stage three of the An Post Ras, a major relief after two days of steady rain. 
Spirits where high within the team as they prepared for and rolled out on the 154.2km stage from Lisdoonvarna to Charleville.
On paper this looked like It would be a sprinters stage but there was always a high chance a break may stay away and take the stage win due to the fact the New Zealand team would now look to control the race.
Ronan had a good attempt at making one such break, and despite getting clear in a break
containing some of Ireland’s strongest domestically based riders, the lack of international teams represented in the break meant it was always likely to be brought back, and so it was about 5-10km later.
The next group to attack did manage to build a lead and would eventually build.
A maximum gap of four minutes. this gap came right down before the finish to just 16seconds but Jan Sokol of the Baku team was able to hold on to take the victory. 
Rory, Ronan and John all finished safely in the bunch with John the best placed, crossing the line in 26th place.
All in all it was a fairly quiet and non descript day for the team with all the riders keeping one eye on tomorrow’s stage and glad of an easier day today in preparation for the mountainous route tomorrow.
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