Sean McKenna in the breakaway at the Volta ao Alentejo in Portugal where he attacked almost from the gun.
Irish rider Sean McKenna has put in arguably the best performance of his career against pro opposition today, attacking off the front of the Volta ao Alentejo and gaining over 10 minutes on the peloton.
The An Post-Chainreaction rider, who was starting his first full season abroad today, was the first to attack with a little over 5km completed.
He was joined by Matteo Dal-Cin (Rally Cycling) and with just over 10km out front completed their lead had stretched to over nine minutes.
The peloton included teams from the Continental and ProContinental ranks as well as WorldTour outfit Movistar.
McKenna, riding with lots of confidence, took the two first primes of the day.
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But after the first hour of racing, the Movistar team had taken control on the front of the peloton to ensure the gap to the leaders did not get unmanageable.
They were soon joined by Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and at the halfway mark in the 158km opening stage completed the gap to the leaders had been trimmed by more than half; McKenna and Dal-Cin enjoying a gap of just under four minutes.
Approaching the 100km marker and with two more primes won, McKenna and his fellow escapee were just barely holding on with a lead of 30 seconds and four climbs to come in quick succession.
They were recaptured by the peloton just before the first climbers’ prime atop the cat 2 Cabeço do Mouro, where Eddie Dunbar (Axeon Hagens Berman) was 3rd.
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Over the top of the second categorised climb of the day – a cat 3 just 5km later – a group of four would pull clear.
It contained Dunbar’s team mate Logan Owen along with Alejandro Marque (Sporting Tavira), Ricardo Vilela (Manzana Postobon) and Nicholas Schultz (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).
Another cat 4 ascent quickly followed, with the four up front increasing their lead from 30 to 45 seconds despite the gradient and the presence of Movistar once again on the front of the chasing peloton.
However, with the three climbs coming within 12km the peloton was trimmed to about 50 riders and with just over 130km covered the escape was caught.
The flying Dunbar would then pull clear with Aldemar Reyes Ortega (Manzana Postobon) on the fourth climb of the day; a cat 3 crested with just 20km remaining.
The Irishman and Ortega built a gap of over 30 seconds but were caught after about 15km out front, paving the way for a sprint from the reduced peloton just 5km later into Castelo de Vide.
The stage was won by Rinaldo Nocentini (Sporting Tavira) from Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Carlos Barbero (Movistar).
Dunbar would finish the 158km stage from Portalegre to Castelo de Vide in 27th place on the same time as the winner and is 2nd in the climbers’ classification.
McKenna would finish 120th on the day in a large group some 19:53 down but having put in a fantastic ride.
The only other Irish rider in the race, Conor Hennebry (An Post-ChainReaction), came home in the same group as McKenna, finishing 104th in what was his first race for the team and his first at this level.
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