Sean Downey was wrapped up well today and was unlucky to puncture
An Post-Sean Kelly’s veteran sprinter Niko Eeckhout came tantalisingly close to taking the team’s first win of the year today when he was pipped on the line on the fourth stage of the Étoile de Bessèges in France.
However, the team’s Irish riders Ronan McLaughlin and Sean Downey were caught out – by the crosswinds and a mechanical respectively - eventually coming home in a large group some 11:40 down.
Their group was outside the time limit and the riders in it were not assigned finishing places in the official results.
They will not get to ride tomorrow’s final day of five; a split stage of a hilly road race in the morning followed by an undulating TT in the afternoon that finishes at the top of a 3km climb.
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Downey told stickybottle he punctured on the first of three laps today when the Europcar team of GC leader Pierre Rolland was riding on the front to control the race.
“There was no chance of getting back on,” he said.
McLaughlin said because the stage was shortened to just 66km the time limit was very small. And with the crosswinds, fairly significant gaps opened quickly.
“I missed the split in the crosswinds; it’s a disappointing way to end the race.”
Today’s stage was again hit by the adverse weather conditions.
This time it was a combination of high winds and icy roads that forced the organisers to change the stage route; shortening it from a planned 150km, to three laps of a 22km circuit based in and around Bagnols-suer-Cèze.
As was the case yesterday, both Eeckhout and McLaughlin tried their hand at slipping up the road into an early breakaway but were not successful.
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On the hilly circuit the peloton fragmented, with three An Post-Sean Kelly riders making the front group; Mark McNally, Gediminas Bagdonas and Eeckhout.
In the finale the trio worked well together, with Bagdonas and McNally bringing Eeckhout up to the front of the peloton and positioning him well for the uphill sprint finish.
The former Belgian national champion had to settle for second in the dash to the line, just behind winner Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DMC).
An Post-Sean Kelly manager, Kurt Bogaerts said while he would have loved to have won, he was pleased with how the team rode and happy with making the podium.
“It was a very good result and good teamwork to bring Niko to the front after the final climb. It’s the first podium of the year and I’m a happy manager because I saw some good teamwork. Tomorrow it will be hard again, there’s a hilly stage at 9am and in the afternoon a time trial with a 3km climb to the finish.”
Pierre Rolland (Europcar) retained the leader’s yellow jersey heading into tomorrow’s action.
Stage 4
1 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling 1:45:13
2 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
3 Julien El Fares (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi
4 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
5 Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller
6 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
7 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis Le Crédit en Ligne
8 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Type 1 - Sanofi
9 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ - Big Mat
10 Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fra) Vélo Club La Pomme Marseille
19 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly
44 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly same time
HD Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 11:40
HD Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
HD Ronan Mc Laughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
HD Sean Patrick Downey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
General Classification
1 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 10:44:48
2 Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Veranda Rideau U 0:00:06
3 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling 0:00:08
4 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet 0:00:10
5 Julien El Fares (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi 0:00:16
6 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
7 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi 0:00:17
8 Anthony Ravard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:18
9 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
10 Rémi Cusin (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi
14 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly 20 secs
51 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly
72 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 15:56
