Archie Ryan has expressed his delight at finishing his four-year stint at Jumbo Visma Development with a convincing win at Coppa Citta’ Di San Daniele, a UCI-ranked 1.2 race in Italy. He claimed that victory - dominating the hilly finale with his characterising petrol-engine kicks on the climbs - just 48 hours after a dodgy sprint by a rival denied him victory at U23 Il Lombardia.
The Irish rider's team paid tribute to him, praising the manner of his comebacks and his performances despite facing such adversity over the last four years. Last season was his only full year on the bike since he joined Jumbo Visma Development straight out of the juniors.
However, such is his sheer ability, and the damage he can do on the climbs when healthy, that he has secured a contract with World Tour team EF Education-EasyPost for the next two seasons. Yesterday, Jumbo Visma was full of praise for their departing Irishman's "fighting spirit".
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"The riders had a great race today,” said Jumbo Visma sports director Robert Wagner. "It was a challenging course, but we knew we were in good shape. The guys came up with their own plan and executed it perfectly. I'm very proud that we could finish this Italian double so well.
"Archie said goodbye to the team today with a beautiful win. He has had a lot of tough times over the last four years but has always come back strong. To end his time with us like this says enough about his fighting spirit.”
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For his part, Ryan was clearly thrilled with the result, ending his time with the team on such a positive note. Covid-19 wrecked the U23 international season in 2020 before a knee injury wiped out most of his 2021 season and meant he was unable to race this year until mid August.
Still, he won a stage of Tour de l'Avenir this year to add to yesterday's victory. Last season he was 4th overall at l'Avenir while winning a stage and the young rider classification at Tour de Slovaquie (2.1), which he rode with the Jumbo Visma World Tour team, as well as taking a stage win at Ronde de l'Isard (2.2U).
"I'm thrilled with this win”, Ryan said. "The team worked hard all day. To finish it off like that makes me feel good. I felt good all day, but on the last climb, I was sure I could win here today. To be on the podium with my teammates is wonderful.
"What a day, what a race, it was a really special way to end it, with a 1-2-3 for the team; really nice. The boys rode really well all day. It's my last race of the season, and with Jumbo, so to get the win here is really, really special."
Ryan crossed the line yesterday with teammate, Tijmen Graat, some 15 seconds up Darren van Bekkum, who completed a clear sweep of the podium for Jumbo Visma Development. Irishman Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) was with Bekkum, placing 4th, after the 12-rider front group split to pieces on the final climb under the pressure applied by Ryan.
And as Ryan and Rafferty both now move on to the World Tour with EF Education EasyPost, Ronan O'Connor is very much putting up his hand for a place as leading climber in the Irish U23 set-up for the next couple of seasons.
He was also competing yesterday and placed 24th, at 2:37, after just missing the 15-rider chasing group that came over the line some 1:05 down on winner Ryan. That completes a very strong finish to the season for O'Connor, who missed a chunk of his 2023 campaign, with Team Colpack Ballan CSB in Italy, after breaking his arm.
