It may be only the start of the new season, but already Philip Deignan has shown he is in very good form after the winter break. And during his TT ride at the Ruta del Sol, over dirt tracks, he put in a very solid shift.
Philip Deignan strong on Ruta del Sol dirt track
Ireland's Philip Deignan climbed impressively in the mountains at the Ruta del Sol, finishing it off with a strong TT.
The Irish cyclist took a very solid 20th in yesterday’s challenging concluding test.
With the race against the clock 14.2km, it was made tougher by the fact almost half was on dirt roads.
And while Deignan is not a TT specialist by any means, his 20th place was a very solid conclusion.
The Donegal man was under no pressure to ride the TT flat out. But his form saw him well up the standings in what was a quality field.
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Ultimately Team Sky let the race slip through its fingers.
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Philip Deignan did Trojan work on the first mountain stage. He towed the select group most of the way up the final climb.
And when the last of the breakaway men were in sight, the favourites began the race for victory.
That was won by Deignan’s team mate Wout Poels. He also took the leader’s jersey on that stage 2 last Thursday.
However, on the fourth stage on Saturday Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) was too strong for everyone, including Team Sky, up the final section of cobbled climbing.
He would take the stage and race lead and hold it in yesterday’s TT; placing 8th on the day.
Poels took sixth and pegged three seconds back on the race leader. But Wellens still won overall by eight seconds.
Deignan was in the line-up to assist Poels and Chris Froome; though the latter underperformed and finished 10th overall.
Philip Deignan ended the race in 19th; a tidy performance after five stages in the service of others.
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