Jack Wilson, second from right, up the road in France where he took second place today and is now right in contention overall.
After Conor Dunne’s breakaway heroics took him to fifth on the day and into the climbers’ jersey and Jack Wilson was tenth on the opening stage of the Kreiz Breizh Elites stage race yesterday, the An Post-Chainreaction team had another very strong day today.
On a split stage featuring two road races, Wilson was second on the afternoon stage 3 and is now 4th overall, while Dunne was in the bunch, in 56th place, and is now 12th overall.
Wilson put in the best ride of his season so far and one of the best of his career to take second place this afternoon.
Not only did he get into the winning move but he also led in the chase group after the lone winner; beating Great Britain national criterium champion Graham Briggs in the sprint for the runner-up slot.
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All four Irish riders in the race – Wilson, Dunne, Matt Brammeier (Synergy Baku) and Daniel Stewart (Hennebont Cyclisme) – finished in the bunch during this morning’s 82.6km road race.
It ended in a bunch sprint and saw no change in the general classification. Wilson was 30th, Brammeier 53rd, Dunne 87th and Stewart 124th all on the same time as winner André Looij (Rabobank Development Team).
In the afternoon stage, a 98km leg into Saint et Carhaix, the field split to pieces, with several groups on the road and the peloton depleted greatly in number under the pressure of some testing exchanges.
Dutch rider Timo Roosen of the Rabobank team sprung from the breakaway that Wilson forged his way into. He led home in very impressive style by 11 seconds, savouring what was a great win.
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Wilson was next, just ahead of renowned sprinter Briggs of Rapha Condor JLT. That pairing were at the head of a 10 man group, with three riders coming in alone just seconds behind and the main bunch finishing 23 seconds after Wilson.
There were 75 riders in the main bunch, from a starting field of 153 riders.
In that main group behind Wilson was yesterday’s breakaway man Dunne, in 55th. Brammeier was just off the back of that group, losing 1:14 to the leader in 92nd place, while Stewart was 98th at 3:13.
With just one stage, of 173km, remaining tomorrow the An Post-Chainreaction duo of Wilson and Dunne are in a good position to challenge overall.
Wilson’s ride today means he is now just 13 seconds off new race leader Matteo Busato (MG Kvis-Willier), who was in the winning five man breakaway with Dunne yesterday. Dunne is 12th at just 26 seconds.
Daniel Stewart, left, is gaining invaluable experience in the colours of French team Hennebont Cyclisme.
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