Waterford/Comeragh CC Ras Team 2016

Tour de France

3 days in Spain , what have we learned?

As seen in the picture Tadja Pogacar is familiar with ‘the Shaka.’ Who knew there was surf culture in Slovenia!

Take aways from stage 1

With the start and finish in the beautiful city of Bilboa, this was an opening stage like no other 5 catogrised climbs and arguably 2-3 uncategorised, these climbs are not long in the grand scheme of things but they are sharp towards the end, reflected in the peloton scattered to the 4 winds by stage finish.

What struck me first was the city itself, this vast city surrounded by lush green vegetation, most definitely had a feel of Ireland, this is the north of Spain but more importantly this is the Basque country! In Spain it rains apparently not just on the plains but most definitely buckets it down in the North. We have a great affinity with the Basques, history will teach you that.

The city is beautifully constructed, you can see the symmetrical apartment blocks for miles sprinkled with green, lots of green interspersed throughout this amazing condensed city opting for real city development as opposed to urban sprawl.

If this was Dublin these apartment buildings would be empty or condemned through developer led lack of building oversight, as for the green areas they would be long gone replaced by well , see above!

Watching the race today would make you want book a ticket, for anyone that hasn’t been put it in the list..

As for the race things started to explode with about 50k and 3 of those categorised climbs form the finish. The sprinters were being dispatched in quick succession leaving a condensed peloton entering the last climb, this saw the 2 favourites Vindegaurd and Podgacar sizing each other up after Adam Yates went to the front to impose a hard pace when he looked around after less than a minute of pacing he only had 3 riders on his wheel, he is without doubt on great form .. now this is stage 1 this is not supposed to happen traditionally for at least another week!

Sure the boys didn't know what to do off the front on stage 1 of a 3 weeker, so they waited for the rest of the favourites , a group of approximately 15 riders, not before the afore mentioned Adam Yates came over the top of the two leaders for what I thought was domestic duties to pace his team leader. He got a gap, his twin brother came across ( Simon - Jayco Alula) and they pushed on with 10 k to go. By the end of the decent they had 15 seconds, they both committed there was no team tactics here - blood is thicker than water, no talk just commitment and I'm sure they had that telepathic twin thing going on.
Now tbh, I figured they would be caught there was I think 4 jumbo Visma riders in the chase group with Van aert sitting in for the sprint. With 2 k to go the lads had upped their advantage to 18 seconds, then the road started to go up hill not dramatic at first but enough to soften up the legs. They road honestly with Adam dropping Simon with about 400m to go (4 sec on the line), UAE taking yellow and Pog winning the sprint for 3rd.

What I though was interesting was Pogacar s victory salute over the line for third, clearly, he was delighted for his teammate winning and taking yellow, but it seemed there was more to it than the 4 seconds time bonus, to me it was more a message of... ‘we are here in numbers and this will be different to last year!’

They look good as a team , Pog may not be as isolated as he was last year , but Jumbo had superior numbers at the end, Pog did sprint for 3rd gaining 4 seconds over Vindegaurd - nothing to really worry about for now, but the intent is there and pog is going to fight for every second he can. But you can't fight every day for 3 weeks so he has to pick his battles. You can't win a tour of stage 1 , but you can lose it as Mas and Carapaz found out crashing at 60kmph on the penultimate descent . Mas looked to have broken his collar bone while Carapaz soldiered on to the finish with the knees torn off him only to be told he had a broken patella by the medical team, his tour over also! It's a cruel sport., your whole season is based around these 3 weeks and day one it’s gone.



Arguably the most exciting opening stage of a tour in decades, and the good news is there's more of the same tomorrow, again with an array of cat 3 climbing the most dramatic quite close to the finish into the beautiful San Sebastian.



Takeaways form Stage 2

If Bilbao looked like a modern developed city yesterday, the finish into San Sabastion today looked like a North Atlantic Venice, or if you're from Ireland a kind of Dunmore East on steroids!
Incredible city that just drops from the hills of the Basque country right into the Atlantic Ocean. Its natural harbour combined with its exposed coast surely makes for expert sailors and watermen. A night in San Sebastion if memory serves me correctly is a kin to new year's eve anywhere else., not that our athletes need to worry about this, the signiors may though!



Really I cant take much more of this and its only stage 2! All pedestrian enough until 40k or so to go and the final climb of the day the Jeziabel an 8k at 4% with ramps in the 9% range. with the last of the breakaway reigned in it was down to business and with the top of the climb so close to the finish we were surely going to see fireworks.

To ensure this the organisers as well as awarding Kom points at the top of the climb they also had time bonus’s 8, 5, and 3 seconds respectively. Thus, guaranteeing Pogacar and Vinegeard going head to head which is exactly what happened. Simon Yates took off with a few hundred metres from the summit, with our two protagonists vying for the wheel before launching their sprints with elbows out in a desperate effort for position. Vindgeard launched first with Podgacar using the slip stream to great effect passing Vinegeard before the line, then pushing on hard initially on the descent there was even an elbow flick for Vinegaerd to come around , which he dutifully declined. Really what was going to be in it for him?

A regroup on the descent saw some 20 riders come together, again Jumbo Visma had numerical superiority with 4 riders still intact less than 10k from home. The bottom line here Van Aert should have it in the bag, but the rest of the group had other ideas, knowing full well that the only way to win was to attack, the few with any legs left gave it a go , as going to the line with Van aert in a sprint was fruitless.

Bilbao on the descent, then Ackerman on the flat, followed by Pidcock on a slight rise, this one seemed to hurt the most, then the Swiss rider that van aert had to chase as he was all out of teammates except for Vinedgeard who was marking Pogacar. With a k to go and jumbo Visma on their knees came the decisive attack form the back of the group - Victor Lafay (coincidently the only rider to hang onto the two favourites of the final climb the day before! Therefore, in the form of his life .) Group stalled bang the Cofidis rider goes, a moment of indecision and there's a 20m gap and he is absolutely flying! Van Hoydonk gives chase but he's suffering, if Van Aert goes, he scarifies himself for the sprint and Pog wins , If they just had one more rider.. Vinegard didn’t move.. Would a 200m effort really of killed him? We'll never know... Van aert had to open the sprint early but too late as Lafey was on a flyer on the barriers, Van aert barely held on for second with Pod and Pidcork breathing down his neck. The French man held on of the win, the teams frist tour win in 15 years! For a French team at the tour this is an eternity!

Pog was laughing at Visma's expense , Van aert disgusted and doing a bit of bike throwing back at the bus , Vindegard was getting it from all angles for no contributing! Cant be a happy camp on that team bus at the moment. UAE in yellow still, they did a lot of work today well see if it comes back to bite them in the ass later in the tour.. One thing is for sure this has been the best strart to a tour in my memory .. tomorrow should be a straight forward day for the sprinters.. But even here we have potential history in the making with Mark Cavendish attempting to win his 35th tour de France stage victory and with it the all time record form Eddy Merckx.. Thus cycling immortality... We also have a wounded Van aert vying for blood!

Waterford/Comeragh CC Ras Team 2016 updated their business hours.

What this guy doesn't know.. If your one of the 8 it's like having the winning ticket!

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It's always epic .. In every sense of the word!!

Registration The An Post Rás is an annual, eight-day, stage race around Ireland. The race is Ireland’s number one cycling event.

8 (un)likely photos or if you like 'only in Ireland!' From the 2016 season, amazingly our team leader/mentor/spiritual guru ( I could go on...) makes almost 50% of them! And no thats not him on the pony...

8 scenes from 2016 that you’d only see at an Irish bike race Riding a pony through the start-finish at Rás Luimi; just one of the many scenes witnessed this year that you'd only see in Ireland.

Bit of alright!!!!

Being Positive..

Check it out, these lads getting organised!

Team GerryMcVeigh Cars are delighted to announce that we will enter a fully supported team into the 2017 An Post Ras which will be held next May 21st-28th. We have some spaces available on our team and are now looking for expressions of interest from riders from any club who would like to join us on the adventure of competing in the Ras. For further details you can contact us via facebook or at our website www.teamgerrymcveighcars.com

Rás team 2017 filling up! Unofficial 'Mayor of wherever he happens to be at any particular time ' Mark Gater! the most recent signing. Think most races in the country were won at one time by this group.

The last hurrah for a lot of riders this weekend down in Co. Wexford best of luck to all involved and to the riders heading to Kanturk for the national champs.

Wexford Two-Day start lists for three races; over 200 entered The Stafford Wholesale Wexford Two-Day takes place this weekend with three separate races scheduled. It might be heading towards the end of the season

Two sound lads and a taste of what lies ahead this winter for our boys at various winter training camps around the world!

Lachlan Morton Defies the World The true tale of the phenom, his brother, the sacred monolith, and the fountain of youth—or what happens when the life everyone imagines for you is not what you want for yourself

One for the Road

Well it's been an emotional come down since the Rás.. It's a funny old game cycling and the art of total immersion in an 8 day bubble that is pure hell! But when it's all over you miss it, not so much the pain, although the body can get used to anything. It's the comradare and not just with your own team, although that's a big part of it, but with the riders that are goin through the same physical and mental torture as yourself day after day. Misery loves company and when it's all over in some perverse way you miss it - the misery and the company..

Welcome back old friend!!
The suir valley 3 day brought it all flooding back in bucket loads.. 4 stages over 3 days all based around clonmel featuring the best riders in the country as well the best of British in the from of rapha JLT, sigma sports and tifosi spirit!?
Great seeing old and not so old faces, a few familiar lads from the Isle of Man, the pros ( mixed feelings about those boys), the irish lads , some young top riders in the making - Ras stage winners, where else would you be able to roll up to a world champion and shoot the breeze- not that I did of course.. Velo, Aqua and a young Lucan team all represented well, Dungarvan had a solid team of stalwarts, Planet X were active as to was their manager Morgan Fox who was neutral service for the weekend , there was even a lad who flew in from Spain and Id say he was on the first flight home Tuesday.. Your not in Kansas now Canty..

Stage one rolled out in perfect cycling weather warm, overcast and dry. It was the cahir- mitchelstown- fermoy course of a few years ago 127 k nothing to really worry about till the vee (cat1) with 20 k to go.. All good made into the climb forth wheel as Aidan Crowley drive it on through Lismore and onto the first few k of the climb, as it came to my turn I duly obliged and pulled over! As jlt took over , I was a bit of a one man team for the wknd and I ain't sacrificing myself for no pros or anyone else for that matter.. Goal - get over climb - limit losses - get home!

When you see me on a bike natural climber doesn't spring to mind, but the pace was hard steady and to my surprise I got over it in the group - a few went off the front ( JLT boyos and simon Ryan who had a great wknd and was certainly one of the stand out domestic riders of the race it has to be said) and joined the break which had a few minutes before the climb. Missed my bottle on the climb - breakdown in communication I can only blame myself.. As a result, I was all out of water. Few others handing out bottles so made a grab for one or two.. when they ain't one of your own they ain't forthcoming in handing the bottle over. After a couple of 'failed attempts' - it's a pull away of the bottle that subtly screams.. I DONT THINK SO!! I resort to a ..' ill make sure he gets it!' They didn't buy that one either..

So I've soldiered over the cat 1 descended at breakneck speed into clougheen, wait till it's safe , go back the bunch which has probably halved in size by now . I'm at the back I have no bottles so I have to use the universal hand gesture of ' are ye goin for a few pints lads' to the race organiser and head commissare in the brand new X5 behind!
I can only imagine the conversation in the jeep, they must be thinkin hes flying and must be delighted.. as I know the lads we've never been out socially! So they're motioning frantically I can only assume it's WTF and/or NFW.. So I drop back to confirm, feeding has just finished! ( it's under 20k to go) That's ok I say I'm just looking for some water.. They look at each other 'What' I go ' What!?' No joy as I head back up to regain contact - no pints for you boys later.

I spend the next 10 k trying to bum a drink , my man Constanteen Bartels (WRC) comes to my aid I take a few swigs - Mich Ahern ( Dungarvan) who like me looks like he's just spent a week by camel over landing it to Acaba!! ( see Laurence of Arabia- possibly the best movie ever made) 'give us a drop of that'.. Says Mick, now I'm in the awkward position of loaning out a bottle that has just been loaned to me.. What to do? Con looks fresh , Mick looks fuvked!! I give Mick the bottle..
I hand Con back the bottle , there's prob a drop of backwash left in it.. He looks at me.. I say your fine there's only 10k left!!
Which is probably the line he should of used on me a few minutes before.. Life lesson.. He's a good kid though!

Stage finish in Cahir make it safely in the bunch the break was at 2 minutes, successful day all round!

Stage 2
I'm not goin to go on about how epic this stage was, more epic for some (Richard Maes, Killarney who won by hijacking the pros at their own game on the line.. Legendary) than for others (i.e., moi!)
To sum up.. Rainy start, it was the dungarvan circuit, straight into a KOM full gas (as they say) quickly followed by a 70kmph descent in the rain no brakes (carbon) through the first hot spot sprint .. a blur! directly into the KOM of Ballymacabrey (not sure about the spelling but the macabre bit is definitely spot on)- things were about to get a whole lot blurrier as the entire race fractured under the pressure, the gas didn't come off btw! Two groups were to eventually form, one to contest the finish and the other to limit its losses .. No prizes for which one I ended up in.. Moral of the story KOM-Hotspot-KOM within 10K = Bloodbath.. And I lost my Garmin. Only to be found by my new drinking buddy in the X5.. Result..

Day 2 of the Suirvalley, consists of wait for it ..2 stages , a crowd pleaser in the evening in the form of a criterium ( city centre race on a lap of approx 2k - duration 1 hr) that's about 20 laps give or take. There is no let up in these races and very little opportunity for recovery , the only respite is when the race is over or you are lapped (pulled out) which ever comes first! It's another level of suffering as if we didn't have enough already in this fuvked up sport! The Brits love em, crits everywhere over there they're practically rared on them.. You'd be lucky to do 2/3 in aseason over here, well that's my excuse taken care of!

By their very nature crits are extremely technical as you weave your way though the streets at top speed inches from riders, barriers, shores, even the crowds themselves as they lean over the barriers screaming.. It is some buzz it has to be said esp when you hear your name screamed out allowing you to dig that little bit deeper.

A particular crowd pleaser as I said, as instead of watchin riders suffers maybe once in a race you get to see it 20 times or so.. What's not to love.
Don't get me wrong I am partial to the odd crit., when they're civilised! Like maybe 50-60 riders not 150 hairing it into the same bottle neck at 40+kmph - result one long line with riders practically getting lapped from the start (this is technically impossible but really not that far from the truth) It is an art , getting corners right , avoiding crashes, measuring your effort.. As can be seen by the British lads who are 4 of the top 5 . Ian Richardson being the odd one out , more on him in a bit. Out of the 150 or so starters there were I think 45 finishers.. That's a hell of an attrition rate, no wonder it's a crowd pleaser akin to getting eaten by lions.. If you are one of those 45 I take my hat off to you, my group lasted 45 minutes before we were called ashore.. No complaints there.

That's where it ends, the suirvalley 3 day was a 2 day for me., long story. So I missed Monday's rain soaked, crash marred Epic!! Thanks be to God.. Body's everywhere , the broom wagon had to call for back up , it was like a bunch of lads heading off to a munster final in the back of that Lycra clad bus, the craic was mighty as they shared what was left of their gels. Someone said it was reminiscent of wedding crashers.'We lost a lot of good men out there!' Speedy recovery to the lads who ended up in hospital Morton , Delaney to name but a few!

Big crash before the Glen of Aherlow on tight roads in torrential conditions, can't even imagine the descent! Jlt looked to have it in the bag, strongest team and in yellow but by only 5 seconds to the aforementioned Ian Richardson (UCD). Who most certainly had other ideas.. By all accounts he sat on the lads (JLT) all day, they rode the perfect stage until about 5 k to go, a wrong exit in a roundabout resulting in a crash for the yellow jersey in the disparate attempt to get back on track, Richardson, who knew the route seized his opportunity and took flight soloing home on the technical finish into Clonmel just about staying up right as he thru himself into rain soaked gutter filled corners to gain the time needed and nearly win the stage in the process. A classic case of doing your homework -goodluck/badluck depending on how you look at it-hard graft - and Balls -

Fortune favours the brave..

Not a race that anyone that was there will forget for a long time.
Great event well organised and the weather kind of played ball!

Special mention to all Comeragh riders up at Eirigal youth tour in Donegal some great results in what is a seriously contested event, the future looks bright..

One of the biggest weekends in the Irish cycling calendar and it's only up the road.. See you up the road!! - I feel a blog coming on

Suir Valley 3 Day – Ireland's Premier International 3 Day Bike Race *****Please Note: the Criterium Start Time is 6PM and not 7pm as per the above flyer and there will be no U16, A4 or Ladies Support races that evening*****

Not just 160 over the hill Lycra clad riders on a Saturday morning in kilcullen, Co. Kildare. A quality field that would do justice to any Sunday blue ribbon race in the country. Like our Rás team most of these guys are at their peak.. Better late than never!

Epic Ride by Martin Cullinane in M40 Nationals. Martin Cullinane, who is on a run of superb from lately, rode an absolutely brilliant ride and featured prominently in the M40 National Championships which took place on Saturday June 25th in and a…

Excellent video showing how difficult some of the pros find the Ras,just goes to show how well the team done.If you skip forward to around 4'35 you can see some of the guys in action

Video: ‘The Toughest Race’ – Inside the mind of Rás riders We've covered the race and you've read about it and seen it, but what do the Rás riders think of Ireland's national tour? This short film brings us inside their minds.

The last post - An Post Rás post Rás blog!

An Post Rás stage 8 Kildare-Skerries 145km
The final hurdle in the puzzle! make no mistake it may be the final stage but this is no ceremonial lap of honour, many a rider has been caught out with complacency on this final day and with it a lost Rás..
Morgan drilled this into us at the morning meeting, it's going to be fast be aware, the goal is to get to skerries and enjoy the 3 laps of the town! It's 100k to skerries taking in 2 - 3 category climbs then 3 laps of the seaside town containing a cat 3 climb on each lap.. Total 145k .. What's the problem? Break open the champagne!

The problem was that the big boys were still duken it out for the overall, a decent breakaway containing a county riders hadn't really stuck yet! This meant, 1. That there would be lots of attacks from the gun to establish a break therefor high speed and 2. Once the Laps were in sight other teams would try and test the yellow jersey. Either way it was goin to be a hard fast day..
Good news , no back roads, was someone up there at Ras HQ reading my blog? No.. Because they have used this exact route many times and newsflash...the back roads were in fact back! But a Dublin backroad is a very distant relation to a Kerry/West Cork backroad. In fact where I come from you practically have to pay a toll to get on roads like these.. Ones mans back road is another mans., you get the idea!
What lay ahead was smooth tarmac lots of it and lots and lots of roundabouts. Kind ofreminds me of lighting McQueen 'I am speed' (forget it if you don't have kids) weather we liked it or not if we wanted to make Skerries In All its glory that was what we were going to have to be, as this field, combined with these roads, screamed one thing 'Speed!'
Sign on went well, in a field in the middle of no where nice little 8 k warm up to the start in Kildare, this is where I met my first speed bump. I was chatting to another rider on The start line turns out he was from the area so he tells me there a drag after 8 k and it was categorised last year but not this time , the first climb according to 'the book' was at 78k .. Alarm bells!!
Flag drops as we snake outta town hell bent on making Skerries in record time , all I can tell you is I made it over that fist climb and the categorised ones to follow were actually easier, there was line outs ( harder than any climb) hard breaking into corners followed by even harder accelerations out, surfing the bunch in order to maintain your position is a skill many pros have mastered and I have rarely seen anyone as good at it as Ciaran Power but today all Comeragh men seemed to be to the fore and anytime we met in the bunch there was constant words of encouragement with the main focus on moving up the bunch whenever possible. In the bunch you are either making ground or losing it ..important to be on the ball ..

End result we made if to Skerries! As we completed the fist passage of the town the atmosphere was electric there was what seemed like thousands of people leaning out over the barriers screaming we were inches from the crowds as we passed through at 50kmph.
Lined out along the Waterfornt, apparently there was a stunning beach to our right, we were heading for our fist climb of the black hills the lap is 13 k the support was insane from a packed town centre to people screaming from there front gardens as we climbed., this is where a lot of different groups formed as the pros piled on the pressure , made contact with a group of 30 riders as we pushed on for 2 more laps just soaking up the atmosphere knowing we were almost home after the last climb. We was high fiving and dropping back to the team car to see Morgan and Cian , they had team sponsor Patsy Carney along for the ride and judging by the look on his face it was a bit of a baptism of fire as the cavalcade is one crazy place.. Think he enjoyed though!
We crossed the finish line few minutes behind stage winner, Nicolai Brochner from Denmark and Clements Frankhauser of the Tirol Austrian teamwon the overall, and why wouldn't he I'll bet this was the first time he was ever at sea level! Lots of claps on the backs and hugs from fellow riders, spectators friends and loved ones. It's a special moment as your sitting on the footpath completely spent with a can of coke, taking it all in. That you got there, finishing argubally the hardest/fastest Rás in history.

Historically it was a great year to do the Ras it being 2016 and the start being Dublin Castle.. GPO being one better but you could only imagine the traffic chaos a start on so Connell St would cause! I will never forgot as we embarked on stage 1 out of the castle and through the Pheonix park onto a closed motorway as we headed for Mullingar and our first stage finish in Multifarnam.

The Rás is steeped in republican values and has had quite a history (The Rás - Tom Daly) and many controversies!
The dark side of the ras now takes the form of the county riders being almost outnumbered by pro/semi pro teams . I'm all for uping the game but not to the detriment of the founding principles of the race which are the county teams and the epic battles that ensued.. Those battles are Still there take Eoin Morton and Brian McCrystsls epic break on stage 2 resulting in Mortons win, a first for a county rider since Brian Kenneally's two stages in 2007. But these two are no ordinary county riders and with their pedigrees could walk onto many pro teams.. Neither was Bian Keannelly for that matter!

The real battles of the Rás feature at the back end where riders (county) on a bad day are racing the dreaded time cut ( 20% of the winners time) . 11 riders were eliminated this year with a further 30 not finishing due to illness, fatigue or climbing off knowing they would be outside the time. There seemed to be a policy of elimination this year more so than I can remember in an effort to almost deter county men from taking part in the future . There are many reasons for this - traffic management being one and the logical nightmare it must be for the organisers to essentially close towns as the race passes which between groups on the road could take 30 minutes depending on the stage of the race and the terrain of the day!
The Rás will continue In Whatever reincarnation is deemed fit for the time , in the 80's it was the Russians the turn of the Millenium saw the start of the pro era. It's a two tier race between the pros and the amatures and I have no problem with that, but to push county riders out of a race built on the ethos of the county team is a mistake . Without county teams there is no Rás.. you would have to call it something else!! Food for thought Maybe. To the riders who didn't make it, it may be a lost Rás but you were there in this historic year and helped make the race..

The team:
We may of not of being the best team in the race but we had the best support both on the roads and in the team cars. Morgan Fox our manager could read a race like no one I've met other than Ciaran ( go figure) he got our heads in the game and kept us goin when we doubted ourselves. Alan Heary did everything bar tuck us in and I'm sure if we asked he would of! He tought us how to get to the finish one step at a time still not sure what positive visualisation is something about the bottle of cider being half full.. John Hammer kept our legs in order and if you didn't hear the screams from the table it was uncontrollable laughter to take your mind off the pain. Cian sorted the bikes and no job was too big or small even 10 minutes before a stage start when you were in a knife edge! He allegedly represented well on the night stages also.
There maybe a better support team out there somewhere in the pro ranks but I haven't heard of them !

The team itself, what can I say when do you get to ride a Ras on the same team as former pro, Olympian and double winner of the race Ciaran Power, Noel O Dwyer a recitative newcomer to racing but a true gentleman and hardman, Tadgh de Barra who grew up racing for Tramore until a career in medicine got in the way, but what a comeback this year A3-A1 and strongest rider on the team. Lastly David Halligan whose contribution to the race will go down in Folklore as he raced the last 3 stages on a broken collarbone we knew he was in discomfort and I'm sure Tadgh had suspicions but he had two choices , get a X-ray get the bad news and that's it race over or soldier on through the pain barrier and get the X-ray when it's all over! He choose the later and finished 2 of the hardest stages and was still well up on the last day into Skerries. A true hardman of the Rás! As for myself I was more than happy to be part of this 9 man team, impossible to say no with the characters involved and a week I will never forget. If you have more good days than bad then it's a very successful Rás and I think we achieved that the icing on the cake was Ciaran on the podium on stage one , we got great coverage over that and a few other misdemeanours!
Sinead Power and the rest of the clan who were all over the roads this week
Partners/wife's who kept the homefires burning while we were off feckarsing around the country. Couldn't of done it without ye.

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