Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team

Stage 5 | Ras na mBan

A short but fast 2.6km time trial was on the cards for Stage 5, with the team putting in another solid performance.

Lucy Glover set the early benchmark and finished the day in 6th, with Leila just behind in 8th. Amelia took 11th, while Elena finished 29th.

That leaves Elena 7th in the GC, with Leila 18th, Amelia 24th and Lucy 60th. The team also continue to hold 2nd place in the overall team classification.

📸 SportsPhoto Ireland

Smurfit Westrock
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Ras na mBan – Stage 4

Another big day at Ras na mBan with two major climbs, including a tough uphill finish, and another shake-up in the GC.

The opening two intermediate sprints saw Amelia and Lucy take 2nd and 3rd, followed by Amelia taking 4th in the second sprint. That leaves them 3rd and 4th overall in the sprints with two stages remaining.

In the first QOM, Elena took 3rd as the race split apart on the steep slopes.

Heading into the final climb, Amelia, Elena and Leila were all in a heavily reduced group of around 30 riders chasing a lone leader. The climb once again blew the race apart, with Elena taking an excellent 4th place and securing 3rd overall in the Mountains Classification.

Backing her up, Leila finished 13th, Amelia 30th and Lucy 68th, moving the team up to 2nd overall in the team classification.

One more big day to come. Sunday brings the TT and Criterium.

📸 SportPhoto Ireland

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Rás na mBan | Stage 3

A big day of racing on Stage 3, with two tough climbs creating the first major shake-up in the General Classification.

Leila Gschwentner was active early, making the first move in a small break before the peloton closed it down. Lucy Glover then went clear with another rider, opening up a gap of more than a minute before being caught on the first QOM.

As the race exploded on the climb, Elena Day made the front group of four and crossed the QOM in 3rd place. She was eventually distanced ahead of the final climb, but fought all the way to the line.

With just 6km remaining, the race split once again. Elena held on to finish 17th, in a group contesting 4th place.

Stage 3
17th – Elena Day
20th – Leila Gschwentner
27th – Amelia
66th – Lucy Glover

General Classification
13th – Elena Day
21st – Leila Gschwentner
27th – Amelia

Competition standings
3rd – Amelia | Points
7th – Lucy | Points
6th – Elena | Mountains
3rd – Team GC

A demanding day that tested the legs, but the team continues to hold strong positions across the classifications with more racing still to come.

📸 SportsPhoto Ireland

Smurfit Westrock
Ribble Cycles
Mavic
Madison UK
4Endurance Europe 🇪🇺

Stage 2 of the Rás na mBan, from Gorey to Gorey, saw Amelia Cebak take a strong 4th place from a select group of 29 riders, backed up by Leila Gschwentner in 12th, Elena Day in 27th and Lucy Glover in 60th.

In the General Classification, Leila now sits 6th overall, with Amelia in 8th and 4th overall in the U23 category.

Lucy Glover and Amelia Cebak went 1st and 2nd respectively in the first intermediate sprint of the day. Amelia now sits 5th overall in the Sprints competition, with Leila 8th and Lucy 9th.

In the Mountains competition, Elena Day now holds 5th overall.

As a team, we now sit 2nd overall in the Team Classification.

Two stages down and the team is firmly in the fight. With strong positions across the General, U23, Sprints and Mountains competitions, there is plenty more to play for.

Keep following, keep supporting and get behind the team as we head into the next stage. We’re not done yet.

📸 Sean Rowe

Smurfit Westrock
Ribble Cycles
Mavic
Madison UK
4Endurance Europe 🇪🇺

Leila Gschwentner took a well deserved 4th position in stage 1 of Ras na mBan 25 seconds behind the winner

Leila was backed up by Amelia Cebak 17th, Elena Day 22nd & Lucy Glover 60th

📸 Rás na mBan

Rás na mBan 2026: Guide to this week's action

This year’s race is the 20th edition of the popular international stage race to be based in and around Kilkenny. 2026 is a landmark year in the history of women’s international cycle racing in Ireland and to mark the occasion, the organisers of Ireland’s top international stage race have produced a route with three all-new stages, two new race locations and other innovations in the most radical overhaul in years.

Riders from all over World as well as the best of Ireland’s international and locally-based racers will descend on Kilkenny for the event as racing gets underway tomorrow, Wednesday September 2nd, from 14:00 at the Race HQ, the Hoban Hotel.

Despite the changes to this year’s route, there’s something for everyone across the coming five days and six stages of racing. There will be plenty of demanding moments across Ireland’s Ancient East as riders prepare to take on several new testing climbs across Wexford, Carlow and Tipperary, before switching their focus to the flat and fast stage five time trial on Sunday and battling it out in front of Kilkenny Castle in the stage six criterium race.

19 teams have entered this year’s race, with 91 riders from 14 countries. Rás na mBan is very proud to see riders traveling not just from across Europe, but again from as far away as the USA, Lebanon and Malaysia.

You can find all the route information, a provisional start list, and a list of riders to keep an extra close eye on here: https://rasnamban.com/ras-na-mban-2026-guide-to-this-weeks-action/

That’s a wrap on our third Lloyds Tour of Britain

It’s been a tough one but Amelia, Leila and Teniel did us proud

📸 Chris Pops Perry

Smurfit Westrock
Ribble Cycles
Mavic
Madison UK
4Endurance Europe 🇪🇺

Stage 4 done and dusted, one more day to go

📸 Chris Pops Perry

Smurfit Westrock
Ribble Cycles
Mavic
Madison UK
4Endurance Europe 🇪🇺

A tough day on Stage 3 of the Tour of Britain today, with Amelia, Leila and Teniel battling all the way from Mold to the finish on the Great Orme.

📸 Chris Pops Perry

Smurfit Westrock
Ribble Cycles
Mavic
Madison UK
4Endurance Europe 🇪🇺