Archie Ryan has moved into the top 10 overall at Ronde de l'Isard today after a day on the climbs during which he helped to keep his team mate in the yellow jersey after he came under attack.
On the 126.km stage 3 today - from Saint-Aventin to Guzet Neige - Ryan and his Jumbo Visma team mate and race leader, Johannes Staune-Mittet, were among a select group of about 15 riders that dominated the stage.
However, when the Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ duo of Lenny Martinez and Reuben Thompson broke clear of that group in a two-man move, the yellow jersey was on the line. Thompson had begun the day 3rd overall some 1:17 down on Staune-Mittet.
Back in the remains of the select group, Ryan took to the front and put in a big shift to try and bring back the two escapees and keep the yellow jersey within the Jumbo Visma Development team. In the closing stages, on the final climb, Martinez dropped Thompson up front.
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Ryan continued to work away in the chasing group, which caught Thompson. And while Martinez hung on to win the stage, he had just 15 seconds on the line on the next rider to finish; Fernando Tercero (EOLO-Kometa U23).
Staune-Mittet finished in 6th, some 32 seconds down, after being aided by Ryan, which was easily enough for the Norwegian to keep the race lead with two stages remaining. Having emptied the tank for his team mate today, Ryan finished the stage in 9th place at 56 seconds. That saw him move up by five places to 9th overall.
Going into a major day on the climbs tomorrow, Saturday, Staune-Mittet leads from Enzo Paleni (Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ) by 34 seconds with Thompson (Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ) at 1:20.
Tomorrow's stage - 131km from Carbonne to Goulier Neige - finishes atop a 9.5km cat 1 climb with an average gradient of 7.9 per cent. As Ryan missed the breakaway, which gained over 10 minutes, on the opening stage he will be on domestique duties again tomorrow trying to keep Staune-Mittet in yellow. However, the Irishman but could also challenge for the stage win depending on how the race unfolds.
