Rafferty and Ryan climb strongly, despite crash, at Alpes-Maritimes | Video

Darren Rafferty hits the deck with eventual race winner Lenny Martinez after the French rider rubbed a wheel and brought down the Irishman

Darren Rafferty and Archie Ryan have both made a more than solid return to racing for EF Education-EasyPost in France today at Mercan Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes (1.1).

The 168km race, with over 4,000 metres of climbing, finished at altitude at Valberg, with a victory for young French star Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), who got clear on the penultimate climb of Col de la Couillole.

Martinez had earlier crashed on that climb with Ireland's Rafferty; the duo tangling and coming down uphill as the front group was down to less than 25 riders, and also included Ryan.

As the climb continued, and the attacks became stronger and more frequent, the lead group split. Ryan and Rafferty, not helped by his crash, fell back a little, though still remained in contention and eventually finished in 11th and 16th on the day.

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It was a strong performance by the two Irishmen, who were returning to the peloton after just over one month away. The fact they were able to find some climbing legs - though not precisely the top end they needed - bodes very well for the races just ahead.

Rafferty and Martinez take a tumble on the climb where most of the damage was done

With 24km to go - almost all of it climbing - the group was down to between 20 and 25 riders when Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) attacked, forcing a reaction from Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech).

As they pulled clear, Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education-EasyPost) hit the front on behalf of his Irish team mates and closed the gap.

Nerurkar then rode on the front of a time, as Rafferty and Martinez crashed at the back of the ever-decreasing group with 22.5km to go.

Just after that mishap, and with plenty of climbing still to come, Ryan could be seen at the front before Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) attacked.

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Shortly after that effort came to nothing, Iván Ramiro Sosa (Movistar Team) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) took a tumble, with David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) then having a dig, with 20km to go, as the group was continuing to get smaller.

That effort by Gaudu saw him and George Bennett (Israel Premier Tech) pull clear and the group behind them splitting in two; Ryan and Nerurkar in the second half of that split and Rafferty just a little further back.

With just over 19km to go, Bennett dropped Gaudu up front, with the French rider caught by the six-man chasing group as Ryan and Nerurkar were just behind. As Bennett looked like he might pull clear solo, Martinez hit the front of the chasing group, splitting it in pursuit of the Kiwi and closing him down.

At the top of the climb of Col de la Couillole, Martinez (Groupama - FDJ) led solo just ahead of Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

They were chased at about 20 seconds by Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Dstny), George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) and Iván Sosa (Movistar Team), with Ryan and team mate Nerurkar, along with three others, just a few seconds further back.

With 6km to go, the two leaders led the four chasers by 30 seconds as Ryan was still just off the back of the second group on the road, as Riccitello and team mate Bennett were both dropped by the chasing group in the last 3-4km.

Up front, Martinez attacked and dropped Berthet with 1km to go, winning by 10 seconds from Berthet with Vanhoucke 3rd from Sosa in 4th, both at 15 seconds.

Of the EF Education-EasyPost riders, Nerurkar came through for 9th place, some 1:01 down on winner Martinez. Ryan was 11th at 2:31 with Rafferty, after his crash, placing 16th, in a small group at 3:16.

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