The Irish team has gotten underway on the opening stage of the UCI Junior Nations Cup stage race - Course de la Paix Juniors - in Czech Republic, with David Gaffney and Conor Murphy making the front group on a day when significant gaps opened.
The terrain combined with the speed to result in lots of riders being distanced during the 110km stage from Litoměřice to Úštěk. It included five categorised climbs on constantly rolling terrain, with 1,600m of climbing through the stage.
Though the bunch numbered more than 80 riders by the time it reached the uphill cobbled finish, some 55 riders did not make it as the pressure of the opening stage, of five, took its toll.
The fight for victory looked set to come down to a bunch sprint before Dutch rider Gijs Schoonvelde threw in a powerful final to just get ahead solo before the finish and had the legs to hold off the group by a few lengths.
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He took that victory from Italian duo Mattia Agostinacchio and Alessio Magagnotti, with the winner finishing in the same time as the bunch as his gap was closed down just before the line.
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Gaffney was 35th and O'Connor 77th; both doing well to make it all the way today, when some crashes also caused several riders to lose contact with the bunch.
Matthew Walls, Max Fitzgerald, Curtis McKee and Philip O'Connor were further back for Team Ireland today, though they have four stages ahead of them to make their mark.
The race continues tomorrow with an 8.8km TT in Třebívlice in the morning, where Murphy and Gaffney will look to make gains in the general classification. It is followed by a pan flat 58km road stage in the afternoon, which should be a fast one and a chance for sprinters like Ireland's Fitzgerald.
The sprint to the finish line...#zmj2025 pic.twitter.com/7IsULd9BBi
— Závod míru juniorů (@zmj_cz) May 8, 2025
