Archie Ryan holds firm on uphill finish in Austria as big mountains approach | Video

Archie Ryan remains in the top three overall as the Tour of Austria is about to go into the big climbing stages, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG the team to beat

Archie Ryan and his EF Education-EasyPost team could not prevent UAE Team Emirates-XRG taking a second stage win at Tour of Austria on Wednesday, via Isaac del Toro, but the Irishman looked strong on the uphill finish.

On yesterday's opener, Ryan attacked solo during the hilly finale but was caught by UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Felix Großschartner and Rafał Majka, who then worked over the Irishman with repeated attacks.

Though Großschartner eventually got clear, and Ryan had to settle for 3rd place, they put more than 10 seconds into the best of the rest, setting the Irish rider up for a tilt at the general classification this week. And on the basis of Ryan's display today on the uphill finish, he has clearly recovered from his opening stage attacking efforts.

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On today's 142km stage 2 from Bischofshofen to St Johann Alpendorf, the last of the breakaway men were caught with 4km to go. The road had already begun to kick up to the finish line at that point, though the climb to the chequered flag only officially began with 2.4km to go.

As the seven per cent average gradient kicked in, the main field was thinned right back. And as the lead group passed the 1km to marker, Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacked solo and pulled out a useful gap.

However, though Covi looked like he may have the stage wrapped up with 300m to go, the road continued to kick up to the finish. The Italian was swallowed up by the front of the bunch, right before the line, in what was a drag race sprint.

Ineos Grenadier's Andrew August took it up on the front from a long way out. But as he closed in on Covi, del Torro passed him on the line, winning the stage and pushing August into 2nd place, with Spanish 18-year-old Héctor Álvarez (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) 3rd.

Race leader Großschartner - who will clearly want to win what is his home race - was 4th, with Covi in 5th and Ryan placing 9th; the first 24 riders across the line all finishing on the same time as the winner.

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The result meant no change in the overall, with Großschartner still leading by nine seconds from Majka and Ryan 3rd at 12 seconds. Del Torro took a time bonus today and has moved up to 4th, just six seconds off the race lead and now moving much closer to Ryan.

The young Mexican is perhaps the biggest danger man for Ryan, especially as he finished 2nd in the Giro d'Italia in May and won a stage. Ryan will also have to contend with the strength in depth of UAE Team Emirates-XRG in coming days.

However, his own EF Education-EasyPost team rode very strongly on the front today, closing down the breakaway and attackers for the Irishman in the final.

Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) is the only other Irish rider in the race and having finished 25th yesterday, at 36 seconds, he was 53rd today at 53 seconds.

The race continues tomorrow with 143km from Salzburg-Hellbrunn to Salzburg-Gaisberg. The 3,000m of elevation gain includes the uphill finished of the Gaisbergspitze, some 7.5km at eight per cent.

That will pose a very different challenge to today's finish, with far fewer riders in contention, which should suit Ryan. And by the finish tomorrow, the pecking order of the 2025 Tour of Austria will be much clearer.

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