Irish champion Conor Dunne was forced out of his first race of the year but he's back on track very nicely. And after a breakaway ride and uphill finish in Turkey he's in contention overall.
Conor Dunne has gone on the attack and ridden well on today's uphill finish at the Tour of Antalya in Turkey; placing 6th on the day.
It's Dunne's first top 10 result in the colours of Israel Cycling Academy, though he placed 11th in the TT last month at the Vuelta a San Jan in Argentina.
Furthermore, after his ride today he has shot up the overall standings. He is now 5th in the general classification with just one stage remaining.
The only other Irish rider in the race, Michael O'Loughlin of Team Wiggins, was 64th today at 3:37.
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Dunne was forced out of his opening stage race of the year, in Argentina, last month when he came down with a fever. However, he is back and racing strongly.
Today he was part of a large breakaway group, featuring 22 riders, that gained over one minute at one point.
The short 92km race from Perge to Termessos was the queen stage of the four-day race. The final 10km was gradually uphill.
With the riders hit by wet conditions for the early part of the stage, Dunne made the large front group that pulled out a decent gap.
And while that was whittled right down by the time the final climb commenced, the Irish rider was one of those to survive out front.
The stage was won by Szymon Rekita (Leopard Pro Cycling) by eight seconds from Juan Pedro Lopez (Kometa Cycling) and Dunne's team mate Rubén Plaza.
Rekita, a 25-year-old Pole, takes today's queen stage and the race leader. Van der Poel on the front yesterday in the leader's jersey after he had won the opener.
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Dunne finished the first rider of a trio some 21 seconds back. And as the first two stages had come down to group sprints, today's stage result has shaped the overall.
With just a relatively flat stage to come tomorrow, Rekita has the leader's jersey.
He holds that by nine seconds from Giovanni Lonardi; the Nippo Vini Fantini Faizanè man one of the riders Dunne finished with today.
The opening stage of the race on Thursday was won by world cyclocross champion Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus).
Dunne was last man in the front group of 45 riders; an 18 second gap to the next rider ensured Dunne remained in contention as most of the rest of the field lost time.
The second stage yesterday was claimed by Bas van der Kooij (Monkey Town) in a bunch sprint. Conor Dunne finished in the same time as the winner.
Conor Dunne up classification
It meant the Irish road race champion went into today's stage in 36th place, equal on time with 37 other riders.
They were 14 seconds down on this morning’s Tour of Antalya leader van de Kooij; the top eight overall having gained time bonuses on the opening two stages.
But after today’s third stage Conor Dunne is now 6th overall some 13 seconds down on the new race leader Rekita.
The final Tour of Antalya stage tomorrow is 158km into Antalya and should be one for the sprinters.
O'Loughlin is now 65th overall. He finished in a large group on the opening day that lost 26 seconds after late splits emerged in the main field. And he finished in the peloton yesterday.
The Turkish four-day is his first competitive outing of the year. And having been forced to endure illness and injury in the first half of 2018, he will look to make his mark in the months ahead.
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