Rory Townsend and Aaron Wade impress in Belgium and Spain

*Irish road race champion Rory Townsend leads the breakaway during Belgian classic Danilith Nokere Koerse (Photo: Jens Morel)*

Irish road race champion Rory Townsend (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and U23 Irish road international Aaron Wade (Equipo Cortizo) have been in racing action in Belgium and Spain, with both riders putting up a strong showing.

Townsend, who has moved up to ProContinental level this year, spent most of Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.Pro) in Belgium yesterday on the attack and was one of the last men standing as the breakaway was whittled down in the 193.6km race.

Townsend got clear in a seven-man group but it was kept on a tight leash by the peloton, with their maximum gap only reaching two minutes. With 90km remaining, and the riders on the finishing circuit, that advantage had already been pegged back to just below 1:30.

And though Townsend was one of the last riders caught, the escapees were all mopped up with about 30km remaining. Townsend eventually finished in 109th at 8:16. While the finale saw a volley of attacks off the front of the reduced peloton, the battle for victory came down to a bunch sprint, won by Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep).

Over in Spain, Aaron Wade was in action yesterday for his new Spanish team, Equipo Cortizo, in the five-stage Vuelta a Extremadur, the men's version of the race won by Megan Armitage (Arkéa Pro Cycling Team) at the weekend.

Yesterday's opening stage was an 8.1 km team time trial in Plasencia, won by Equipo Finisher, with Wade and his team mates taking 2nd place, some eight seconds in arrears. That sets up the Irishman and his team mates for a strong race in the days ahead.