Having broken away on what was a lonely road for about 150km, Conor Dunne was rewarded for his efforts at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque. He holds the climbers' jersey and was also the most aggressive rider on the stage (Photo: Aqua Blue Sport)
Conor Dunne in 4 Jours de Dunkerque climbers' jersey
Conor Dunne holds the climbers’ jersey and 4 Jours de Dunkerque after another breakaway ride.
The Aqua Blue Sport rider also took the combativity award on yesterday’s second stage.
On the 173.3km stages from Dunne Le Quesnoy to Soissons Dunne broke clear with Brice Feillu (Fortuneo Samsic).
They would combined together to remain out front for 150km; a mammoth escape for just two riders.
And while they would be reabsorbed and the stage won in a sprint by André Greipel (Lotto Soudal), it was a fruitful day for Conor Dunne.
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They would pull out a gap at one point of almost four minutes. And with 60km to go the gap had come down to just 30 seconds.
However, the bunch would then ease back and the two escapees would redouble their efforts; the gap going back out to two minutes as a result.
Conor Dunne and Feilu up the road. The sprint finish, won by Greipel.
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Conor Dunne and Feilu were still clear when they reached Soissons for two finishing circuits.
However, with the sprinters’ teams anxious to ensure a bunch finish, the break’s recapture always looked likely.
And so it came to pass; the two leaders shaking hands to complete their effort with 11km to go as the bunch caught them.
"Brice and I had a plan to take it easy all day because the bunch then wasn't going to want to bring us back too early. It makes it too difficult for them to control the race," Dunne said.
"We tried to ride at an easy tempo, and share the sprint and mountains points between us.
"We knew the peloton was sprinting for each prime because there was a one-second bonus on offer. So we'd always lose a little bit of time after every sprint. And then the gap would go out again.
"We rode like that until after the last sprint. And after that we just hit it really hard and the time went out again.
“The plan was to try to get it up to three minutes or so after they eased off and to try and stay away.
“I thought it was always going to be tough but ... you never know. We got pretty far and I enjoyed giving it a good go so I'm happy with the day.
"It's nice to be in the jersey and I'll see what happens for the rest of the race - hopefully I'll try to get in another break and try to pick up some more points."
When Conor Dunne was finally caught, his team continued to animate the race as it approached the Pasly climb
Casper Pedersen attacked but was ultimately unsuccessful and in the end Greipel won. Timothy Dupont (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) was next, with Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) rounding out the podium.
Coquard’s result saw him take the race lead; by two seconds from stage 1 winner Marc Sarreau (Groupama FDJ). Coqard’s teammate Jéremy LeCroq is third and Feillu is fourth with four stages remaining.
Dunne ended today’s stage in 116th at 3:52. The only other Irish rider in the race, Dunne’s team mate Matt Brammeier was one place ahead of him on the same time.
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