Irish U23 international Aaron Wade has put in a strong performance in a UCI-ranked stage race in Poland but ultimately saw his hopes dashed by bad luck when well-placed overall.
The 19-year-old, who rides for Powerhouse Sport on the Irish scene, has concluded the Carpathian Couriers Race with an attacking ride on the third stage today.
Guesting with the Sweden Cycling Academy development team
in the U23 stage race, Wade put in a very good performance on the opening
stage, of three, on Sunday. He placed 4th of the 80-rider field in the 4km prologue
TT in Połaniec.
That opening stage was won by Croatian TT champion Fran Miholjević (Cycling Team Friuli ASD) in a time of 5:12. He claimed victory by three seconds Filip Maciejuk, the 21-year-old riding for the Polish national team and who has signed for Bahrain Victorious next year.
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Dutch rider Daan Hoeks (Amsterdam Racing Academy) and
Wade were 3rd and 4th, both at five seconds. That performance put Wade into the
Active Classification jersey.
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While Wade went into Monday’s second stage 4th overall and in striking distance of yellow, the 137km race from Tarnów to Ciężkowice was not a happy one for the Irishman. He suffered three punctures within about 500 metres on poor road surface and lost 6:29, finishing in 62nd.
Today on the final stage – a hilly 130km from Muszyna to Niedzica-Zamek – Wade went on the attack early, spending 10km clear solo before being caught. He later spent about 50km up the road with Dutch rider Maikel Stam (WV De Jonge Renner).
The duo shared the sprinting and climbers’ points out front. They were still clear of the remains of the peloton at the top of the main climb of the day; an 18.4km ascent crested about 40km from the finish.
Wade pressed on alone down the descent and onto the flat for a period before being caught by what was left of the peloton. The stage was won by Polish national team rider and prologue TT runner-up, Maciejuk, in a sprint from a 43-rider group, with Wade finishing among that small bunch.
Maciejuk won the race overall from Hoeks, both finishing on the same time. Wade was 59th at 6:50, having lost most of that time after this triple puncture on Monday.
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