Archie Ryan has today put in the ride of his career on the summit finish at Tour de l'Avenir when he was the only rider in the field able to climb with double stage winner and new race leader Cian Uijtdebroeks (Belgium).
Ryan (20) now moves up overall and despite losing time in the TTT last week he is within striking distance of he final podium with just tomorrow's final stage remaining; again in hilly terrain.
Today when Uijtdebroeks attacked in the closing kilometres and split the select group, Ryan was the only one able to respond to him all the way to the finish line.
And while the Belgian beat the Irishman in the two-up sprint for the stage victory, Ryan took the runner-up spot and gained five places in the general standings, up to 5th overall, with the best U23 riders in the world all losing time to him. Ryan's performance today follows his 5th place yesterday up the Col de la Madeleine.
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The 99.8km stage today took in Col de la Madeleine again, around the halfway point, before the big finish on the 15.5km La Toussuire mountain. And it was on that final climb that the fireworks went off today.
With just over 13km remaining, yellow jersey Michael Hessman (Germany) was slipping off the back of the select group, which was already down to just eight riders, including Ireland's Ryan. And with 12km left to the top of the climb, Johannes Staune-Mittet (Norway) attacked from the select group.
That move split the group, with only Uijtdebroeks and Ryan able to respond and the remainder of the top riders slipping away from the front of the race. That trio soon caught and dropped attacker Romain Grégoire (France) and set about tackling the rest of the mountain and putting as much time as possible into those behind.
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They had 1:20 on the group of yellow jersey Hessman with 2.5km to go when Uijtdebroeks attacked up front. Ryan was onto him immediately, proving well able to follow, though Norway's Staune-Mittet was distanced.
Inside the last few hundred metres it was Uijtdebroeks who proved stronger, just distancing Ryan with a final surge to win by two seconds from the Irish rider. Staune-Mittet was 3rd, some 23 seconds down on the winner. Next of the best were Davide Piganzoli and Alessandro Fancellu, both Italians, at 1:21 and 1:59 respectively.
Yellow jersey Hessman was paced very well by his team mate Hannes Wilksch up he final climb and he limited his losses to 2:11, thus slipping to 3rd overall. Today's stage winner Uijtdebroeks - and also the victor yesterday - is now in the race lead, by 1:23 from Staune-Mittet.
Then comes Hessman at 2:00 followed by Italy's Piganzoli, at 2:30, with Ryan now 5th at 2:34 ahead of tomorrow's finale where even a modest gain on those he left behind today would put him onto the final podium.
Lots more to come.
