Irish neo pro Archie Ryan now set for first major classic

*Archie Ryan on the attack at Coppi e Bartali last month, where he claimed a brilliant stage win, finished 2nd overall and claimed the young rider classification (Photo: Massimo Fulgenzi-SCA-Cor Vos)*

Archie Ryan is now set for his first major classic, in his neo pro year, after being named in the EF Education-EasyPost line-up for tomorrow's La Flèche Wallonne (1.UWT).

The 22-yeae-old had been provisionally pencilled in to ride Tour of the Alps, but has now been called into his team's classics line-up for tomorrow's 198.6km contest.

The race famously finishes on the Mur de Huy, a climb that should suit Ryan's surging climbing efforts. How he will fair against the very best riders in the world at the finish on the back-breaking climb remains to be seen, though his outing will, at the very least, bank valuable experience.

Ryan is in the same team as Ben Healy, the Irish road race champion who was fancied for Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, after 2nd last year, but simply did not have his best day.

While Healy is a very good climber, and has the power required for the big finishes, his main target this week will be Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1.UWT) on Sunday, which will bring the curtain down on the Ardennes week for another year.

Healy has put a lot of focus into preparing for this week, and though Amstel Gold did not go according to plan, for either him or his team, he will be hoping to take a big result before the week is out.

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Ryan has already made very good progress this year, his first at World Tour level after four years at U23 - much of of blighted by injury - with Jumbo Visma Development.

Last month he showed his first really good form of the season with an tenacious ride to 23th at the one-day Trofeo Laigueglia (1.Pro). He then went on to Coppi e Bartali, where he was one of the main animators of the race.

He finished 3rd on stage 2 before winning stage 4 and eventually finishing 2nd overall and winner of the best young rider classification. However, the main takeaway, aside from his results, as the fact he was one of the very strongest climbers in the race.

Since then, he has finished 5th in Gran Premio Miguel Indurain (1.Pro) and also banked six hard days of racing at Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT), which should not stand him in good stead for tomorrow and the weeks ahead.