Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) has one more chance to make a mark at Tour de Luxembourg when the final stage unfolds on Sunday, with 3,000m of elevation gain.
The Irishman saw his general classification chances terminally damaged when he crashed on stage 2, losing 31 seconds to the main field. And in today's stage 4 TT he appeared to be keeping his powder dry for the final showdown tomorrow.
He finished 97th in the 15.5km stage in Differdange, some 4:02 down on stage winner Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates). And with the Spanish rider having moved up to 2nd overall, but Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) back in yellow, the fight for overall victory could really play into Ryan's hands tomorrrow.
Van der Poel won the opening stage but lost the race lead yesterday to Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step). However, after today's TT, Van der Poel had yellow by just three seconds from Ayuso, with Vansevenant in 3rd, also at three seconds.
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Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) is 4th at eight seconds while Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) is 5th at 10 seconds. With all of those riders so close in time, an attacking final stage is in store.
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And that may just leave Ryan free to sit back a little and try and strike if and when he can. The only fly in the ointment for the Irish rider is the presence of his team mate, Harry Sweeny in 6th place at 28 seconds.
However, if Ryan is not constrained by having to work for Sweeny, a combination of the terrain tomorrow and the way the general classification battle is poised may favour him.
— PuroCiclismo (@BlancoAsegurado) September 21, 2024
