An Post’s Bagdonas (pictured today, centre right) is in good form
An Post-Sean Kelly’s Irish riders, Sean Downey and Ronan McLaughlin have both enjoyed a strong ride on the third stage of Étoile de Bessège, climbing in the front group up the three first category ascents today.
McLaughlin was one of several An Post riders to try his hand in the early attacks in the freezing conditions in France.
He made a number of sorties up the road in the early stages, as did the experienced Belgian duo of Pieter Ghyllebert and Niko Eeckhout; though those moves were unsuccessful.
McLaughlin and Downey both rode in the lead group as the field negotiated three ascents of the first cat Col de Treylis on the 152.6km stage.
They were eventually to finish in what was left of the peloton just seven seconds behind a two-man breakaway, with the rest of the field strewn over 20 minutes back the road.
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Tour de France 2011 Alpe d’Huez stage winner, Pierre Rolland (Europcar) took today’s stage win into Bessège when he out sprinted Frank Vermeulen (Veranda Rideau U); with the duo the sole survivors from the day’s early breakaway.
Rolland’s win today has also put him into the GC lead with two stages remaining after overnight leader Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) lost 23 minutes.
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Despite today facing his first serious climbing at this level, Downey told stickybottle he was happy with how he felt.
“I had good legs,” he said
“I was always in the front group over the climbs and I had a lot more confidence than the first two stages. On the finishing circuit it got very, very, fast and the legs started hurting but I was happy to finish with the bunch.”
An Post-Sean Kelly’s Gediminas Bagdonas was again up in the thick of the action in the sprint for third. He went a bit too early and was passed by some riders in the very closing stages, eventually coming home 13th.
Stage 3
1 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 3:55:54
2 Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Veranda Rideau U
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ - Big Mat at 7 secs
4 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
5 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling
6 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling
7 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar
8 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller
9 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet
10 Benjamin Giraud (Fra) Vélo Club La Pomme Marseille
13 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly
17 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
81 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly
85 Ronan McLaughlin (Irl) An Post – Sean Kelly
90 Sean Patrick Downey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly all same time
106 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 15:49
120 Kenneth Van Bilsen (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 23:41
DNF Stijn Ennekens (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
General Classification
1 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 8:59:35
2 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ - Big Mat 0:00:02
3 Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Veranda Rideau U 0:00:06
4 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet 0:00:13
5 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling 0:00:14
6 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 0:00:16
7 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi 0:00:17
8 Anthony Ravard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:18
9 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
10 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
18 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) An Post - Sean Kelly
44 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
81 Ronan McLaughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
85 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly all same time
94 Sean Patrick Downey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly 3:32
107 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 16:02
118 Kenneth Van Bilsen (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 23:54
