You can literally see the delight being wiped off this rider's face on the Baby Giro finish line as he realises his mistake at the end of stage 1 in Italy. He would celebrate too early and was beaten on the line.
Mark Downey features in Baby Giro sprint finish
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Climbs on the opening road stage of the Baby Giro split the field to pieces, with the three Irish riders in the front group.
After 137.7km from Riccione to Forlì, Mark Downey put in a solid final sprint. The Team Wiggins man was 11th in the bunch gallop that settled the stage.
The result came despite Downey having to contend with a slow puncture in the finale.
With 175 riders in the U23 race, the bunch numbered just over 100 on a stage when many riders lost considerable time.
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The two late climbs today may have only been cat 3 ascents, but the course was lumpy enough to do serious damage.
And the second largest group on the road would lose almost nine minutes. The stage was won by 21-year-old Italian Giovanni Lonardi (Zalf).
He nipped in right on the line to deny 19-year-old Gerben Thijssen of the Lotto Soudal development team.
The teenager thought he had the race in the bag and took his two hands off the bars to celebrate.
However, as he was savouring his moment Lonardi just got past him to claim the victory.
Jasper Philipsen (Hagens Berman Axeon) was 3rd. That result saw the 20-year-old Belgian take the race lead. He had been 2nd in the opening prologue TT on Thursday.
Downey was 11th today on the same time as the winner. His team mate Matt Teggart was also in the bunch, finishing in 53rd.
And between them came compatriot Daire Feeley; the Monaco man taking 27th. Tomorrow’s stage sees the riders tackle 138.2km from Nonantola to Sestola.
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