The Irish national team came through today's stage 5 of the Tour de l'Avenir unscathed after the crash-fest of yesterday and now they are braced for the climbing to come in the second half of the race.
That kicks off tomorrow when the riders tackle a short but very challenging 137.5km from Champagnole to Septmoncel, featuring the first long climbs of the 2021 edition.
There are three cat 3 climbs in the first 50km of racing, followed by the 14.5km Cote de la Combed du Lac, at five per cent. The riders pass through the finish line on the early slopes of that climb before continuing to the summit and down the descent.
There follows another circuit, which takes in 8.5km of the Cote de la Combed du Lac for a second time. The riders then descend in towards the finish line, with a slight kicker up to the line.
Advertisement
Related News
However, before that action to come, the Irish team had a
calmer day today on the 150.7km stage from Tomblaine to Bar-sur-Aube.
All six of the Irish riders – JB Murphy,
Kevin McCambridge, Adam Ward, Dillon Corkery, Ben Healy and Liam Curley –
finished in the main bunch today.
Corkery got himself up into the mix at
the finish and placed 15th, with the Dutch again dominating in the finale.
Points classification leader, Marijn van den Berg, took his third stage win with his team mate, and yellow jersey, Mick van Dijke in 2nd place.
Aside from Corkery’s 15th place, Murphy was 78th, Healy
82nd, Ward 124th, Curley 126th and McCambridge 128th.
While tomorrow is the first climbers’ stage, all of the
stages to come are very hilly. Friday’s stage 7, for example, ends with a
summit finish on the Grand Colombier.
Going into the next phase of the race,
Healy is best placed of the Irish riders in 10th, some 1:42 down on the yellow
jersey.
Topics
