After bouncing back on stage 4 from a rocky start at the Tour de l'Avenir, the Irish riders have doubled down on their positive performances as stage 5 saw another top 10 finish for Archie Ryan.
Ryan had a quietly excellent race as he remained in the peloton from start to finish, despite the many splits that had been forced throughout the day. A stage win always seemed unlikely from the main group as breakaways were the tale of the tape, with Ryan ultimately placing 8th at the front of the peloton.
More positive signs were to be seen for Irish eyes as Kevin McCambridge showed aggression early on, finding himself ahead of the peloton in the first 30km. McCambridge only put together a short distance between himself and the pack before being reeled in shortly after.
Advertisement
Archie Ryan's efforts saw him jump a significant 10 places in the General Classification standings, from 41st to 31st, remaining 2 minutes and 39 seconds behind the race leader, Simon Dalby. He leapfrogs Irish teammate Jamie Meehan as the 19 year-old fell 7 places into 39th, 3 minutes and 19 seconds behind Dalby.
Related News
McCambridge, and the fourth Irish rider, Odhran Doogan finished 97th and 118th respectively on the day, with McCambridge trailing the GC leader by just under 18 minutes and Doogan sits 3 minutes further behind.
Spaniard Iván Romeo took home Cofidis' first victory of the Tour de l'Avenir with a brilliantly timed break with just over 15km left to race. Having experienced a disastrously-timed mechanical issue with just 5km to go, Romeo held his nerve and most importantly held his gap to the chasers.
The French heat persisted as an issue for the riders as race organisers were forced to start the stage 2 hours early to 10.30am, as opposed to the scheduled start of 12.30pm. Despite this measure, the riders would still have to endure peak temperatures of 40 degrees.
The day saw the cyclists take on 138km between La Tour-de-Salvagny and Lac d'Aigubellette. It was a fast and indeed furious start to the race as the peloton was stretched early on, with plenty of breakaway hopefuls making their intentions clear.
Tomorrow's stage is a short, but mountainous trek of just under 70km. Starting from the Parc Olympique and concluding atop the Col de la Loze, which was the highest climb in this year's Tour de France. This will certainly be one to watch folks.
Tour de L'Avenir Stage 5 results:
- ROMEO Iván Spain 3:05:06
- CHRISTEN Jan Switzerland 0:07
- BUSATTO Francesco Italy 0:12
- RAISBERG Nadav Israel "
- DALBY Simon Denmark "
- RONDEL Mathys France "
- RICCITELLO Matthew United States "
- RYAN Archie Ireland "
- DEL TORO Isaac Mexico "
- AZPARREN Enekoitz Spain "
