Connor McConvey leads some of the breakaway men on stage 4 of the 2.HC Tour of Belgium (Photo: Lydia Van de Meerssche)
Connor McConvey has put in one of his best rides of the season, going clear in the near stage-long breakaway on stage 4 of the Tour of Belgium.
Riding the 2.HC five-day against a classy field packed with WorldTour riders, the Team 3M Belfast man took advantage of a very hard start today when he got up the road and pulled clear in an eight-man group.
The escapees took flight in some very tough opening exchanges, with a testing climb just after the start ensuring the group that pulled clear was full of strong men.
Up front with McConvey were: Roy Jans (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Julien Vermote (Etixx-Quick-Step), David Van Der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus), Thomas Ongena (Cibel), Olivier Chevalier (Wallonnie-Bruxelles), Kai Reus (Verandas Willems Cycling Team) and Eduard Vorganov (Team Katusha).
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They built up a lead of more than five minutes on the 158km stage, which saw the riders race for almost 100km before coming onto a finishing circuit of 15km, to be negotiated four times.
It appeared the Astana team was punished by its management for missing the breakaway and they were ordered to lead the chase in the bunch.
McConvey set about taking points for the Primus jersey; contesting the gallops at the top of the climbs today (Lydia Van de Meerssche)
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This was despite the squad not having any men in the top 20, with stage 1 time trial winner Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) still holding the race lead.
McConvey made the best of his freedom up the road as the stage snaked through some very testing climbs in the Ardennes region, including a very steep ascent on the finishing circuit.
He took points on four of the primes along the route, which count towards a combined sprinters’ and climbers’ jersey.
That leaves him just eight points off the lead in that classification.
And with a very tough 199km lumpy final stage to come tomorrow, McConvey will look to show himself again in the hope of taking the combined Primus jersey.
Today's stage 4 came down to a sprint from a depleted peloton after the escape was caught with one lap remaining.
Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) took the win after almost five hours of racing from Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal).
McConvey came home well down after letting go of the bunch once he was caught in the hope of preserving energy to try his hand again tomorrow, Sunday, on the final stage.
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