Newton’s helping hand

WORKHORSE professional cyclist Chris Newton, the Olympic medallist from Oldham, is helping team-mate Simon Richardson chase glory in the prestigious FBD Insurance Ras international race in Ireland this week.

In-form Richardson lay second after the first two stages, while their Rapha Condor team was topping the team standings despite tough competition from international teams as well as top domestic rivals.

For his part, Newton was around seven-and-a-half minutes behind the leading group as he did his best to stop any chasing groups from threatening his team-mates’ chances of victory. Newton was 14th overall.

The race featured a 189-kilometre stage from Cobh to Cahirciveen on Tuesday, a 178-kilometre ride from Cahirciveen to Killorglin on Wednesday and a 155-kilometre stage from Killorglin to Scariff yesterday.

Today takes the riders from Scariff to Castlebar, while tomorrow they go from Castlebar to Clara before the final stage on Sunday — a 155-kilometre ride from Clara to Skerries.