Martyn Irvine assesses the gap to the bunch during his 20km attack (Photo: Aaron Lee, Tour de Taiwan)
It was a day of drama for the Irish on the third stage of the Tour of Taiwan today, Wednesday, with recently crowned track world champion Martyn Irvine flying off the head of the bunch on a bold solo bid for stage glory as his fellow countryman Mark Dowling was sent the wrong way after another impressive ride from him.
Irvine (Unitedhealthcare) is clearly regaining his road legs after his world-title winning track exploits in Minsk last month, and with 25km remaining in today’s 154km stage he took a solo filer after the day’s early escape had been reeled in.
The Irishman ploughed on alone for a prolonged period, with the peloton just behind him. He was eventually chased out front by British rider Lee Rodgers (CCN) and Taiwanese Feng Chun Kai (Champion System).
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The latter caught Irvine despite having been part of the early breakaway and while he and the Irishman were to build a lead of almost 50 seconds on the field, they were eventually caught with just 4km remaining.
Following a flat start today for around 10km, the riders then faced a 5km climb on which the field split a little with Dowling going clear in a group at that point, although it was caught and the descent.
After a nine-man group went clear and stayed away for around 60km but were recaptured at the halfway point, and then Irvine’s heroics came to an end with 4km remaining, there was a small climb of 500 metres, splitting the field a little before the finish up a 250 metre ramp.
Dowling said he moved into the top 20 riders to position himself for the bumps of the last few kilometres, but a section of the bunch then went the wrong way, overshooting a corner.
Not only did the blunder cost Dowling and the others their places at the head of the field, but it meant when small splits occurred as the field hurtled down the testing finale, they found themselves losing time and so damaging their aspirations of a high overall finish.
It meant Dowling lost 46 seconds and finds himself having slipped from 10th overall this morning to 28th.
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Sherlock said that after he had been away in a long breakaway yesterday, he decided to take a more conservative approach today but he still did well to finish in a group of 39 riders on the same time as stage winner Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Terengganu).
Irvine paid for his efforts and, as you would expect, he went out the back of the group after being caught with 4km remaining. The other Irish rider in the race, Dominic Jelfs (Madison-Genesis) was 80th today, some 1:22 down.
The race lead is still held by the winner of the opening stage Kirill Pozdnyakov, who rides for David McCann’s and David McQuaid’s Synergy Baku team. However, with climbs tomorrow, larger time gaps may well start to open.
Stage 3: Changhua County 154km
1 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Terengganu) 3:15:33
2 Bernard Sulzberger (DRAPAC)
3 Andreas Müller (ARBÖ-Gebrüder Weiss-Oberndorfer)
4 Adiq Othman (Champion System)
5 Takeaki Ayabe (Aisan Racing Team)
6 Hayato Yoshida (Shimano Racing Team)
7 Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku)
8 Grischa Janorschke (NUTRIXXION ABUS)
9 Oddbjørn Klomtsen Andersen (Team Frøy-Bianchi)
10 Max Walsleben (NUTRIXXION ABUS)
11 Benjamin Edmüller (ARBÖ-Gebrüder Weiss-Oberndorfer)
12 Luke Keough (UnitedHealthCare)
13 Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan (Terengganu)
14 Sirironnachai Sarawut (Thailand National Team)
15 Louis Meintjes (MTN Qhubeka)
16 Yuzuru Suzuki (Shimano)
17 Masakazu Ito (Aisan Racing Team)
18 Robbie Hucker (DRAPAC)
19 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lufti (Malaysia National Team)
20 Po Hung Wu (Senter – Merida)
33 Ryan Sherlock (Polygon Sweet Nice) same time
66 Mark Dowling (Polygon Sweet Nice) 46 seconds
80 Dominic Jelfs (Madison Genesis) @1:22
93 Martyn Irvine (UnitedHealthCare) @3:24
General Classification
1 Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku) 9:24:07
2 Bernard Sulzberger (DRAPAC) @1 secs
3 Nathan Earle (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Adviser) @3 secs
4 Oddbjørn Klomtsen Andersen (Team Frøy-Bianchi) @9 secs
5 Ki Ho Choi (Hong Kong) @13 secs
6 Masakazu Ito (Aisan Racing Team) @19
7 Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan (Terengganu)
8 Tsgabu Grmay (MTN Qhubeka)
9 Adiq Othman (Champion System) @25 secs
10 Louis Meintjes (MTN Qhubeka)
11 Sigurd Nesset (Team Frøy-Bianchi)
12 King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong) @26 secs
13 Robbie Hucker (DRAPAC) @30 secs
14 Sai-Udomsin Phuchong (Thailand National Team) @31 secs
15 David Clarke (Synergy Baku) @36 secs
16 Jai Crawford (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Adviser)
17 Yuzuru Suzuki (Shimano)
18 Ian Bibby (Madison Genesis) @38 secs
19 Anthony Giacoppo (Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Adviser) @40 secs
20 Liam Holohan (Madison Genesis)
27 Ryan Sherlock (Polygon Sweet Nice) @1:10
28 Mark Dowling (Polygon Sweet Nice) @1:11
76 Dominic Jelfs (Madison Genesis) @10:01
91 Martyn Irvine (UnitedHealthCare) @14:13
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