Archie Ryan has put in arguably his best performances of the season on the two climbing stages at Sazka Tour (2.1) in the Czech Republic. The 20-year-old Irish rider is now 7th overall with just one stage remaining tomorrow, when a series of climbs may help him gain more time.
The Jumbo Visma rider laid the foundation for a strong general classification result - in a race that includes World Tour teams - when he placed 7th on yesterday's 183km stage from Olomouc to Pustevny.
On the summit finish, at the top of a 7.9km climb averaging 6.6 per cent gradient, Ryan was among the select group that emerged as the ascent continued.
And while three riders surged forward in the sprint to the line, and so gained three seconds on the next section of the group, Ryan placed 7th and was among just four riders who limited their loses to three seconds.
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The stage was won by Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) from Oscar Onley (Development Team DSM) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux).
As Ryan finished in 7th place, among the four riders at three seconds, he moved up into 5th place overall, three seconds off Rota, who took the race lead. While Thursday's opening stage had seen a breakaway stay clear and the main field split, the gaps were small and yesterday's summit finish completely re-organised the general classification.
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Today's stage 3 - some 148.7km from Moravská Třebová to Dlouhé Stráně - featured a final 12km that was uphill to the finish, with a short respite with about 2km to go.
After the day-long breakaway was caught before the climb, a select group pulled clear on the final ascent, with Ryan again climbing among the best at the front.
Kamiel Bonneu (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) claimed victory from Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma Development Team); the top three once again finishing on the same time.
As the select group split in the final sprint to the line, Ryan lost some seconds; finishing in 13th at 14 seconds. Yellow jersey Rota finished in 6th place some 12 seconds ahead of Ryan. That result saw Rota retain his race lead, with Ryan dropping two places to 7th at 15 seconds.
Tomorrow's stage - some 179.9km from Šumperk to Šternberk - features nine categorised climbs, including one on each of the four passages of the finishing circuit. It is terrain that can suit Ryan, who has already put in a very strong performance.
