Jamie Meehan (AVC Aix Provence Dole) has put in arguably the best climbing performance of his career in Italy today. He proved one of the best climbers, on a huge mountain finish, from a field comprised of many of the top U23 riders in the world.
Meehan was 2nd in the elite-U23 men's road race at the National Road Championships in Co Meath last month, also claiming the U23 gold medal. Since then, he has finished 3rd in both the Tour du Piémont Pyrénéen Challenge one-day races, and is clearly having no problem holding his form.
Today when the Giro Valle d'Aosta-Mont Blanc (2.2U) finished on the 17.6km Colle del Gran San Bernardo, Meehan was at the front. He outclimbed everyone in the field bar one rider; stage winner and emerging Belgian star Jarno Widar (Lotto Development).
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Liam O'Brien (Lidl-Trek), who is enjoying a very strong second season in the U23 ranks, was also one of the strongest today as the main field was reduced to a select group, which also split into ones and twos as the mountain went on.
While Meehan was 4th on the stage, 2:34 down on solo winner Widar, O'Brien finished 12th, at 4:19, of the 110 men who started the 81.7km stage from Pré-Saint-Didier to Colle del Gran San Bernardo.
Widar today attacked not long after the final climb began. He hunted down two breakaway men - Jean-Loup Fayolle (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels Continentale) and Tommaso Bosio (General Store-Essegibi-F.Lli Curia) - who were still more than three minutes clear.
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Meehan then set off in pursuit of the three riders on the road ahead. The Irishman was with Mateo Pablo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z). As that Irish-Ecuador duo rode clear of everyone else on the climb, there was still well over three minutes to the front of the race.
Up front, as the climb went on, Fayolle dropped Bosio. However, Widar then caught and passed each of them, and went on to claim the stage win, finishing 1:53 up on Fayolle in 2nd place. Ramirez and Meehan then finished at 2:35 in 3rd and 4th; some 40 seconds up on the next man home on a day when the top 20 were separated by over six minutes.
O'Brien was 12th at 4:20, with Patrick Casey (Israel Premier Tech Development) in 100th, at 30:47. Both Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) and Killian O'Brien (Petrolike) were listed as non-finishers today.
Rafferty made the breakaway on Wednesday's stage 1, gaining almost three minutes. However, his team mate, Samuele Privitera, a 19-year-old Italian, crashed during the stage and later died in hospital, resulting in the cancellation of yesterday's stage.
With two stages remaining, Meehan is 6th overall, some 2:35 down on Widar. However, a number of the riders still ahead of the Irishman were in that stage 1-winning breakaway and they should lose time in coming days on the climbs.
That means Meehan now has a real shot at a GC podium in what is a major U23 international race. O'Brien is 14th overall at 4:20, with the race continuing tomorrow with another big summit finish - to Valsavarenche - after 160km of racing.
