Nicolas Roche putting in a very tidy ride in the Paris-Nice opening TT, but it was a star of the Rás from just two years ago who put in a monster performance.
Nicolas Roche may be lining out in his Team Sky colours at Paris-Nice this week in support of leader Geraint Thomas, but he Irishman put in a very decent opening effort on Sunday.
Still getting into shape after being bitten twice by spiders during the off season, Roche came home in 36th place and relinquished just 21 seconds in the 6.1km test in Conflans-SainteHonrine.
The stage was won by Australian fast man Michael Matthews; the young Orica-GreenEdge man riding his first race of the season and taking the stage and first yellow jersey by just 1 second from pre stage favourite Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).
And in 3rd place, just one further second adrift, was Pat Bevin, a team mate of Irish rider Ryan Mullen's at Cannondale.
The Kiwi riding in his first season at WorldTour level is well known to Irish cycling fans having ridden the An Post Rás in 2014 - see photos and video below.
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He won stages 2 and 4 and wore the yellow jersey for three days before losing 10 minutes to the winning breakaway on stage 5.
Having just turned 25 years, Bevin has already scored his first win of the year, taking his national TT crown in January.
He said after yesterday's stage he was delighted to have made an impression at such a major pro race.
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"Last year I watched this race; I was on the ergo at home in New Zealand training in the rain," he said.
"To be here a year later and pretty close to the top guys is a good feeling. That’s what you train to do; to be a part of that race."
Prologue TT 6.1km, Conflans-SainteHonrine
1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:07:39
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:01
3 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:02
4 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:06
5 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team
6 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:00:07
7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
8 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:00:08
9 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:09
10 Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling
11 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:10
12 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:13
13 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
14 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
15 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:14
36 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:00:21
Kiwi Pat Bevin rides through the crowd on his way to a magnificent 3rd place in his debut at WorldTour level for Cannondale. He was in the Rás just two years ago...
... Bevin crushing the field on stage 2 of the Rás in 2014, winning by 1:55 solo. He would also claim the yellow jersey and win stage 4 (Photo: Ramsey Cardy - Sportsfile)
Video: Bevin wins Rás 2014 stage 2
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