Composite Black dominated the opening day of the 2025 Dornan Rás Mumhan, winning the Stage 1a team time trial and securing four riders in the top six after a gritty and aggressive Stage 1b road race. Monte Guerrini claimed the first yellow jersey with a powerful TTT ride, but it was teammate Jamie Whitcher who emerged as the new overall leader after a punchy finish in Knocknagoshel, where Matteo Cigala sprinted to victory.
Featured image: Caroline Kerley
Stage 1a
The 2025 Dornan Rás Mumhan got off to a rapid and revealing start in Currow this morning, with the Composite Black team storming to victory in the opening 8.6km team time trial. Their performance not only secured the team the stage win but also catapulted Monte Guerrini – who normally rides for Le Col RT – into the first yellow jersey of the race.
Guerrini – racing alongside Jamie Whitcher, Alex Franks, Harold Evans, and Kevin McCambridge – anchored a composed and powerful ride that stopped the clock at 10:33.56. With the stage win determined by the third rider across the line, it was Whitcher whose time counted, with Guerrini taking the general classification lead thanks to crossing the line first.
Image: Caroline Kerley
As outlined in The British Continental’srace preview, the Stage 1a circuit may have been short, but it was no mere formality. The technical route featured a draggy pull through Scartaglin, rolling roads through Cordal, and a long, fast 4km run-in to Castleisland that rewarded rhythm and teamwork. Without time trial bikes allowed, the emphasis was on collective pacing and coordination—a test that Composite Black passed with flying colours.
Spellman Dublin Port CT, featuring Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli’s Tom Armstrong, Tom Martin and Mitchell McLaughlin, came closest to matching the winners, finishing in 10:39.42, 5.86 seconds adrift. Team Caldwell Cycles were next best, placing third in 10:47.68, followed closely by Ride Revolution Coaching and Velo Performance.
🎙️ From the riders
Monte Guerrini (Composite Black, 1st on stage):
“Full gas in the race and muck. Luckily in the team we have Alex Franks and Jamie Whitcher who are on flying form. Onwards to the road race today“
Stage 1b of the 2025 Dornan Rás Mumhan may have been short on distance, but it delivered a full dose of drama, grit and GC action as the peloton battled a lumpy 67.6km route from Castleisland to Knocknagoshel. The experienced Italian Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey Pissei) claimed a punchy uphill sprint win, while Jamie Whitcher (Composite Black) emerged as the new leader of the general classification after a tactically astute ride on the demanding finishing circuit.
The route began with a bang, straight into the notorious Black Banks climb, a Category 1 ascent that set the tone for a frenetic evening of racing. From there, the race wound through the rural roads around Brosna before arriving in Knocknagoshel for five laps of a sharp, rolling local circuit, each one featuring a short but testing Category 5 KOM at the “Four Crossroads”.
Guerrini before the stage start. Image: Caroline Kerley
Despite the constant drag and repeated KOM primes, no decisive breakaway was allowed to go clear. The pace remained high throughout, with every team trying to roll the dice without ceding time to the overall favourites. Rider accounts described it as relentless – gritty, aggressive racing in grim conditions, where positioning and energy conservation proved critical.
On the final lap, a flurry of attacks kept the bunch on edge, but no move stuck. As the peloton surged toward the line, the decisive moment came on the 600m kicker through Knocknagoshel village – a punchy uphill drag to the Community Centre that doubled as the final KOM. Cigala timed his effort perfectly, launching in the final metres to edge out Willem O’Connor (Velo Performance) and Niall McLoughlin (Connacht Cycling) in a tight sprint.
Just behind, Whitcher held his own, finishing ninth and doing enough to wrest the yellow jersey from his teammate Monte Guerrini, who lost time on the final climb.
TAAP Kalas’s Ollie Hucks played his cards well to take 5th on the stage, benefitting from a strong lead-out by teammate Lance Childs. His result moves him into 11th overall and within striking distance of the top ten.
Image: Caroline Kerley
Composite Black hold a commanding grip on the general classification, with four riders in the top six. Jamie Whitcher, who rides independently with BmthCycleworks VitecFire FordCE in the UK, leads the race overall, just two seconds ahead of teammate Harold Evans, with Willem O’Connor (Velo Performance) the nearest challenger at seven seconds back. A cluster of Composite Black riders — Monte Guerrini, Alex Franks (guesting from Raptor Factory Racing), and Inspired Cycling rider Kevin McCambridge — all sit on the same time as O’Connor, giving the mostly British team tactical depth heading into the weekend.
Tomorrow’s stage around the Ring of Kerry offers a longer, more sustained test of climbing legs. But with Whitcher in yellow, four Composite Black riders in the top six, and attackers like Cigala and O’Connor in striking range, Stage 2 promises fireworks – and perhaps a clearer picture of who’s really in control of this year’s Rás Mumhan.
🎙️ From the riders
Ollie Hucks (TAAP Kalas, 5th on stage, 11th overall): “Grim weather, hard first climb, nothing getting away, aggressive and positive racing. There was a group kick to the line where I could play off my teammate Lance [Childs] who went early but tied up and I managed to benefit from people having to ride over but couldn’t get round the others in the end.”
Jamie Whitcher (Composite Black, 9th on stage, race leader): “I kept patient, I rolled through patiently and conserved my energy well, I’d say. Last lap, I was off the front with a Wheelbase CabTech Castelli rider and the group came back towards us at the foot of the climb. I still had enough gas to contest the final at the end, I just got passed by a few on the final.”
Composite Black dominated the opening day of the 2025 Dornan Rás Mumhan, winning the Stage 1a team time trial and securing four riders in the top six after a gritty and aggressive Stage 1b road race. Monte Guerrini claimed the first yellow jersey with a powerful TTT ride, but it was teammate Jamie Whitcher who emerged as the new overall leader after a punchy finish in Knocknagoshel, where Matteo Cigala sprinted to victory.
Featured image: Caroline Kerley
Stage 1a
The 2025 Dornan Rás Mumhan got off to a rapid and revealing start in Currow this morning, with the Composite Black team storming to victory in the opening 8.6km team time trial. Their performance not only secured the team the stage win but also catapulted Monte Guerrini – who normally rides for Le Col RT – into the first yellow jersey of the race.
Guerrini – racing alongside Jamie Whitcher, Alex Franks, Harold Evans, and Kevin McCambridge – anchored a composed and powerful ride that stopped the clock at 10:33.56. With the stage win determined by the third rider across the line, it was Whitcher whose time counted, with Guerrini taking the general classification lead thanks to crossing the line first.
As outlined in The British Continental’s race preview, the Stage 1a circuit may have been short, but it was no mere formality. The technical route featured a draggy pull through Scartaglin, rolling roads through Cordal, and a long, fast 4km run-in to Castleisland that rewarded rhythm and teamwork. Without time trial bikes allowed, the emphasis was on collective pacing and coordination—a test that Composite Black passed with flying colours.
Spellman Dublin Port CT, featuring Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli’s Tom Armstrong, Tom Martin and Mitchell McLaughlin, came closest to matching the winners, finishing in 10:39.42, 5.86 seconds adrift. Team Caldwell Cycles were next best, placing third in 10:47.68, followed closely by Ride Revolution Coaching and Velo Performance.
🎙️ From the riders
Monte Guerrini (Composite Black, 1st on stage):
“Full gas in the race and muck. Luckily in the team we have Alex Franks and Jamie Whitcher who are on flying form. Onwards to the road race today“
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 2b
Stage 1b of the 2025 Dornan Rás Mumhan may have been short on distance, but it delivered a full dose of drama, grit and GC action as the peloton battled a lumpy 67.6km route from Castleisland to Knocknagoshel. The experienced Italian Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey Pissei) claimed a punchy uphill sprint win, while Jamie Whitcher (Composite Black) emerged as the new leader of the general classification after a tactically astute ride on the demanding finishing circuit.
The route began with a bang, straight into the notorious Black Banks climb, a Category 1 ascent that set the tone for a frenetic evening of racing. From there, the race wound through the rural roads around Brosna before arriving in Knocknagoshel for five laps of a sharp, rolling local circuit, each one featuring a short but testing Category 5 KOM at the “Four Crossroads”.
Despite the constant drag and repeated KOM primes, no decisive breakaway was allowed to go clear. The pace remained high throughout, with every team trying to roll the dice without ceding time to the overall favourites. Rider accounts described it as relentless – gritty, aggressive racing in grim conditions, where positioning and energy conservation proved critical.
On the final lap, a flurry of attacks kept the bunch on edge, but no move stuck. As the peloton surged toward the line, the decisive moment came on the 600m kicker through Knocknagoshel village – a punchy uphill drag to the Community Centre that doubled as the final KOM. Cigala timed his effort perfectly, launching in the final metres to edge out Willem O’Connor (Velo Performance) and Niall McLoughlin (Connacht Cycling) in a tight sprint.
Just behind, Whitcher held his own, finishing ninth and doing enough to wrest the yellow jersey from his teammate Monte Guerrini, who lost time on the final climb.
TAAP Kalas’s Ollie Hucks played his cards well to take 5th on the stage, benefitting from a strong lead-out by teammate Lance Childs. His result moves him into 11th overall and within striking distance of the top ten.
Composite Black hold a commanding grip on the general classification, with four riders in the top six. Jamie Whitcher, who rides independently with BmthCycleworks VitecFire FordCE in the UK, leads the race overall, just two seconds ahead of teammate Harold Evans, with Willem O’Connor (Velo Performance) the nearest challenger at seven seconds back. A cluster of Composite Black riders — Monte Guerrini, Alex Franks (guesting from Raptor Factory Racing), and Inspired Cycling rider Kevin McCambridge — all sit on the same time as O’Connor, giving the mostly British team tactical depth heading into the weekend.
Tomorrow’s stage around the Ring of Kerry offers a longer, more sustained test of climbing legs. But with Whitcher in yellow, four Composite Black riders in the top six, and attackers like Cigala and O’Connor in striking range, Stage 2 promises fireworks – and perhaps a clearer picture of who’s really in control of this year’s Rás Mumhan.
🎙️ From the riders
Ollie Hucks (TAAP Kalas, 5th on stage, 11th overall):
“Grim weather, hard first climb, nothing getting away, aggressive and positive racing. There was a group kick to the line where I could play off my teammate Lance [Childs] who went early but tied up and I managed to benefit from people having to ride over but couldn’t get round the others in the end.”
Jamie Whitcher (Composite Black, 9th on stage, race leader):
“I kept patient, I rolled through patiently and conserved my energy well, I’d say. Last lap, I was off the front with a Wheelbase CabTech Castelli rider and the group came back towards us at the foot of the climb. I still had enough gas to contest the final at the end, I just got passed by a few on the final.”
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
General classification – top 20
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