Stephen Clancy leads the main breakaway of the day on the queen stage of Tour Abu Dhabi.
Stephen Clancy became the latest Irish young gun to shine on the international stage by going in the attack at Tour Abu Dhabi.
The Limerick man put in a great shift to add to the strong showings recently of double World Cup winner Mark Downey on the track.
Irish fans have also enjoyed great road riding by Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapac) at the recent Volta ao Algarve and from Eddie Dunbar (Axeon Hagens Berman) and Sean McKenna (An Post-ChainReaction) in the Volta ao Alentejo at present.
Now a seasoned pro with Novo Nordisk, Clancy put in one of the best rides of his career on stage 3 yesterday when he spent a huge chunk of the day clear in the main breakaway.
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The escape may have been recaptured before the final climb but Clancy can take solace in what was a great showing in a race that truly contains a lot of the biggest names in the sport.
Ilnur Zakarin of Katusha Alpecin, left, and Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates near the end of the 186km stage to Jebel Hafeet.
The move he was in would yo-yo off the front somewhat, gaining a gap of four minutes before that closed a lot and was opened up once again.
In that move with him were Simone Andreetta (Bardiani), Pavel Brutt (Gazprom Rusvelo) and Alan Marangoni (Nippo Vini Fantini).
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They got a gap of four minutes which came down in the crosswind sections which favoured the larger group behind. However, when the wind was at its worst and blowing sand around, the peloton seemed to believe the racing had been neutralised.
But the breakaway had no such impressions and continued to plough on, with the gap growing out again to around four minutes.
By the base of the final Jebel Hafeet climb at the end of the 186km stage the escape was caught.
Quintana, second from left, and Contador, second from right, finished 58 and 61 seconds respectively off winner and new race leader Costa.
And while a big battle was expected with Alberto Contador (Trek Segafredo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), they both rode defensively, which allowed others to take the initiative.
And it was an attack from a long way out by former world champion Rui Costa (UAE Emirates) that won the day from Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha); that duo finishing together after 4½ hours of racing.
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) went in pursuit and also caught them before the leaders realised he was almost on and upped their pace, seeing the Dutchman fall back and finish 3rd at 10 seconds.
Contador’s team mate Bauke Mollema also managed to shake the select group that formed up the climb and took 4th some 28 seconds down.
And a further 18 seconds would elapse before Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) would lead the next group home.
Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) is riding himself into condition at present and he would finish 35th in a group 1:57 down.
Clancy simply rode the climb to get to the top after his breakaway heroics and would come home in 148th place, 19:17 down.
Costa leads the race with a 143km flat stage concluding the race today. He has 4 seconds on Zakarin in 2nd with Dumoulin 3rd at 16 seconds.
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