Downey posts excellent TT in Brittany; puts himself in overall shake-up

Buggle (left) and McLaughlin warm up for yesterday’s TT

Irish U23 rider Sean Downey has put in a very strong time trial on international duty at the Kreiz Breizh Elites (UCI 2.2) three-day in Brittany, France, to put himself into overall contention with one stage remaining today, Monday.

Downey was 7th fastest in the 12.7km TT yesterday morning, Sunday, and moved into seventh overall with that time ; just 16 seconds off the TT winner and 27 seconds off the overall lead.

With yesterday’s 102km afternoon road stage ending with the bunch in tact apart from the lone winner two seconds ahead, Downey maintained his overall position.

His TT ride was the second top ten finish for the Irish team on a stage in the race, with Sam Bennett winning the bunch sprint for ninth place on Saturday’s opening road stage just four seconds down on the back end of the winning eight-man move.

A strong showing will be vital on the final stage today because any UCI points the U23 riders on the Irish team can pick up would bolster Ireland’s position in the UCI U23 European rankings.

Ireland is currently 21^st in those rankings, with the top 26 nations on August 15^th to qualify a team for the U23 World Road Race Championships in Holland in September.

The Irish team in France is comprised of an U23 quartet - Downey, Bennett, Aaron Buggle and Jack Wilson – and elite riders Peter Hawkins and Ronan McLaughlin.

Irish U23 national champion Philip Lavery is also riding the race, but he is competing for his trade team Node4 Girodana rather than with the national selection. UCI rules do not allow a rider to participate in a race in a national or regional selection if their trade team is riding the same race.

Stage 2 : 12.7km TT (Sunday morning)

1 STEENSEN André GLU 16'38''094m (moy. 45,769 km/h)
2 GOUGEARD Alexis USSAPB @10
3 PAILLOT Yoann TOP16
4 LE BON Johan BSC @11
5 ANDERSEN Michael Valgre GLU @15
6 VAN BAARLE Dylan RB3
7 DOWNEY Sean IRL @16
8 OOSTLANDER Sander CJP @17
9 HOFLAND Moreno RB3 @19
10 BOCHMANN Lasse GLU @21

28 BENNETT Sam IRL @50
39 LAVERY Philip NGR @58
71 MC LAUGHLIN Ronan IRL @1:24
77 BUGGLE Aaron IRL @1:29
137 WILSON Jack IRL @3:11
139 HAWKINS Peter IRL @3:48

General Classification after stage 2 TT

1 STEENSEN André GLU 5h17'05'' (moy. 40,021 km/h)
2 PAILLOT Yoann TOP16 @16
3 GOUGEARD Alexis USSAPB @21
4 LE BON Johan BSC @22
5 ANDERSEN Michael Valgre GLU @26
6 VAN BAARLE Dylan RB3
7 DOWNEY Sean IRL @27
8 OOSTLANDER Sander CJP @28
9 HOFLAND Moreno RB3 @30
10 BOCHMANN Lasse GLU @32

27 BENNETT Sam IRL @1:01
37 LAVERY Philip NGR @1:09
67 MC LAUGHLIN Ronan IRL @1:35''
74 BUGGLE Aaron IRL @1:40
114 WILSON Jack IRL @3:22
117 HAWKINS Peter IRL @3:59

Result : Stage 3, 102.4km (Sunday afternoon)

1 CORBEL Erwann CAC22 2h28'53'' (moy. 41,267 km/h)
2 LE MONTAGNER Benjamin CAC22 @2 secs
3 HOFLAND Moreno RB3
4 WILLIAMS Peter NGR
5 BLOT Guillaume BSC
6 BALANNEC Christophe BIC
7 VAN DER WEIJST Geert CJP
8 KREDER Wesley RB3
9 BYSTRØM Sven Erik OHR
10 THEUNS Edward VLTA
27 DOWNEY Sean IRL
33 MC LAUGHLIN Ronan IRL
45 LAVERY Philip NGR
105 BUGGLE Aaron IRL
108 WILSON Jack IRL
110 BENNETT Sam IRL
111 HAWKINS Peter IRL all same time

General Classification after 3 stages

1 STEENSEN André GLU 7h46'00'' (moy. 40,416 km/h)
2 PAILLOT Yoann TOP16 @16
3 GOUGEARD Alexis USSAPB @21
4 LE BON Johan BSC @22
5 ANDERSEN Michael Valgre GLU @26
6 VAN BAARLE Dylan RB3
7 DOWNEY Sean IRL @27
8 OOSTLANDER Sander CJP @28
9 HOFLAND Moreno RB3 @30
10 BOCHMANN Lasse GLU @32

27 BENNETT Sam IRL @1:01
37 LAVERY Philip NGR @1:09
63 MC LAUGHLIN Ronan IRL @1:35
69 BUGGLE Aaron IRL @1:40
104 WILSON Jack IRL @3:22
108 HAWKINS Peter IRL @3:59