Liam O'Brien (Lidl Trek Future Racing) put in a 'man of the match' performance on the final stage at Giro Valle d'Aosta-Mont Blanc (2.2U), with his efforts on the front shredding the select group halfway up the final climb to the finish at Breuil Cervinia.
That final mountain was 25km long and averaged 5.7 per cent gradient, with some sections over 14 per cent. However, the deeper the riders got into the stage, and the harder it got, the more dominant O'Brien became. He was riding for time to get onto the final podium and wasn't shy about stepping up to take on the heaviest load.
While Cork's O'Brien was 3rd on the stage - in big company in a lead three-man group - he had to settle for 4th overall after missing the final general classification podium by just two seconds.
Advertisement
Irish U23 road race champion, Jamie Meehan (AVC Aix Provence Dole), who has climbed so well on this race, started the day 4th overall. And though he lost some ground today, he finished 6th in the final general classification.
Today's stage topped a great ride by the Irish duo in one of the hardest, hilliest, U23 stage races in the world. The race was marred by the death of Samuele Privitera (Hagens Berman Jayco) who crashed, suffering fatal injuries, on stage 1.
His Irish team mate, Adam Rafferty, had ridden a great opening stage, making the breakaway that gained almost three minutes. The following day's stage was cancelled as a mark of respect. And though Rafferty started stage 3, he did not go much further after the loss of his team mate. Killian O'Brien (Petrolike) also started the race but he too was a non-finisher on stage 3.
How today's final shaped up
Today's stage 5 took the riders 119.5km from Valtournenche to Breuil Cervinia, with the final climb to the summit finish always going to cause a lot of pain.
With 11km to go, just over halfway up the final mountain, the front group was down to about 18 riders, with Ireland's O'Brien and Meehan among them, along with all of the other general classification riders.
Race leader Jarno Widar (Lotto Development), Belgium's next big star, had started the day with 3:01 over his nearest challenger - Jean-Loup Fayolle (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels Continentale) - meaning he had no need to push on to gain time. Meehan started the day in 4th, at 3:32, and O'Brien 8th at 4:35.
As the group neared the 10km to go marker, it was O'Brien who wanted more pace in the group, with his last remaining team mate going to the front and lining it out as the road continued to kick up.
Very soon the group began to fracture, with gaps opening and riders being spat out back. Meehan was among those to lose a little bit of ground at that point, as the group was trimmed back to about 10 men.
And then O'Brien took it up on the front and immediately split the group with 9.6km to go. The Irishman was in big company. Race leader Widar was on his wheel, followed by Giro Next Gen overall winner Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious Development Team) and 2nd overall Fayolle.
Related News
Despite the quality in the group, all three were straining and pulling faces as O'Brien pushed on. Indeed, Fayolle slipped off the back about 1km after the Irish rider had hit the front and remainded planted there, tapping out a savage climbing pace.
Shortly after the group became three, Widar began working with O'Brien, though Giro Next Gen winner Omrzel - wearing the climbers' jersey - was relucant to step up, with still about 8.5km to the finish.
Over the next few kilometres of climbing, O'Brien continued to do most of the work on the front, really pushing the group along with a fantastic climbing shift as he tried to move himself up onto the final podium. Widar continued to give O'Brien a turn here and there - the young Belgian keeping it civilised - while Omrzel remained planted in 3rd place.
With about 6km to go, a three-man chasing group was only 30 seconds behind the three leaders. And in that group was one of the men hoping to keep O'Brien off the podium; Mateo Pablo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z).
Widar became tired of Omrzel sitting on in the three-man lead group, and with about 4km to go he let a gap open to O'Brien and forced the young Slovenian to close it. However, though that put Omrzel second wheel for the first time, he did not contribute to the workload. He had lost time early in the race and was not even competing for a place in the top 10 overall.
For most of the remainder of the climb, O'Brien continued to do most of the work, being offered some assistance by yellow jersey Widar. The three chasers were doing a very good job limiting their losses.
When the road flattened out a little with about 2km to go, O'Brien wound it up even more, doing a monster turn which continued until just before the line. With a few hundred metres to go, Widar opened the sprint to win the stage from Omrzel and then O'Brien, all three on the same time.
The three chasers were 48 seconds down, after really holding their shape. And when Ramírez finished 4th, at 48 seconds, that was enough for him to keep his place on the podium; indeed, moving up from 3rd to 2nd.
And then began the wait to see when Fayolle would finish, having started the day 2nd overall, and whether O'Brien would push him off the podium.
In the end, the young Frenchman finished in a group - with Ireland's Meehan - at 1:32. And that was enough for Fayolle to finish 3rd overall, beating O'Brien in the final standings by just two seasons, with Cork's O'Brien 4th overall.
Meehan, enjoying another very strong stage today, was 9th on the stage, and that saw him slip a little in the final GC; from 4th this morning to 6th.
In the final shake-up, Widar won three of the four stages and finished overall winner by 3:50 from Ramirez, with Fayolle 3rd at 4:33 and O'Brien 4th at 4:35. Meehan was 6th at 5:04.
