Archie Ryan takes on UAE Emirates at Tour of Austria | Video

Archie Ryan took the bull by the horns in a bid to take on the dominant UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who had numbers at the front in the final in Austria

Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) has waged a one-man war against UAE Team Emirates-XRG even though it had numbers in the front group in the final of the opening stage at the Tour of Austria.

Ryan (23) sought to use his superior climbing powers to overcome the supremacy of the Middle East-backed team, which finished the stage with no fewer than four riders in the top five.

The Irish rider led the the way solo on the last climb - the 1.2km Porscheberg - being chased hard by a group led by UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Over the top of the climb, which was crested just 6km from the finish, Ryan was clear on his own, with the peloton having exploded behind.

Just nine seconds behind Ryan at the top was the UAE Team Emirates-XRG duo of Felix Großschartner and Rafał Majka. They caught Ryan with just 3km to go and then proceeded immediately to work him over.

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Großschartner got clear with 1km to go, with Ryan forced into a chase, to limit any time gained by the Austrian in the fight for the overall, as Majka sat on the Irishman.

At the end of 168km of racing, starting and finishing in Steyr, Ryan had to be content with 3rd place as Großschartner won solo. The Austrian was five seconds ahead of his team mate, Majka, with Ryan a further one second back in 3rd place.

There was then a gap of 10 seconds back to a chasing group, numbering 11 riders, led in by UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders Filippo Baroncini and Giro d'Italia runner-up and stage winner Isaac del Toro.

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Ryan's team mate, and compatriot, Darren Rafferty finished in a large group some 36 seconds down on the winner; the Irishman finishing in 25th place. Ryan, especially after gaining some time on del Toro, has now set himself up for a tilt at the general classification, with four more stages to come, including three uphill finishes.

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