Sean Downey (An Post-Chainreaction) has wrapped up the Etoile de Bessèges five-day stage race in France in good shape, having finished in the bunch on this morning's stage and posted a good time in the afternoon time trial.
Downey and fellow Irishman Martyn Irvine (Unitedhealthcare) finished in 32nd and 90th place respectively in this morning's short and fast 69km road stage at Ales. They were both credited with the same time as stage winner Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r La Mondiale).
However, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post – Chainreaction) had a slightly more testing time this morning. He fell victim to a crash and came home outside the tight time limit on the short stage. That meant the end of his race and he was forced to sit out the 9.7km TT in the afternoon.
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Irvine was not listed as a starter for the time trial, meaning Downey was the only one of the Irish trio to start that final stage.
He came home in 43rd place, some 1:20 down on stage winner Anthony Roux (FDJ). That left Downey in a respectable 40th in the final overall classification, coming home 1:45 down on race winner Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun).
Etoile de Bessèges: Jan 30th to Feb 3rd (UCI 2.1)
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Stage 5a: Ales (69km)
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 1:31:03 |
| 2 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar | |
| 3 | Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Big Mat - Auber 93 | |
| 4 | Cyrille Patoux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Métropole | |
| 5 | Jure Kocjan (Slo) Euskaltel Euskadi | |
| 6 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 7 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | |
| 8 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
| 9 | Tim De Clercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
| 10 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling | |
| 32 | Sean Downey (Irl) An Post - Chainreaction | same time |
| 90 | Martyn Irvine (Irl) Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling Team | same time |
Outside Time Limit: Ronan McLaughlin (Irl) An Post - Chainreaction
Stage 5b: Ales 9.7km TT
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | 0:14:46 |
| 2 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling | 0:00:23 |
| 4 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:28 |
| 5 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:30 |
| 6 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos - Shimano | 0:00:32 |
| 7 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling | 0:00:34 |
| 8 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:35 |
| 9 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Sojasun | 0:00:37 |
| 10 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:00:39 |
| 43 | Sean Downey (Irl) An Post - Chainreaction | 0:01:20 |
| DNS | Martyn Irvine (Irl) Unitedhealthcare |
Final General Classification
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Sojasun | 16:29:35 |
| 2 | Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:00:04 |
| 3 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:05 |
| 4 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:11 |
| 5 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | |
| 6 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:17 |
| 7 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:20 |
| 8 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling | 0:00:31 |
| 9 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:35 |
| 10 | Julien Antomarchi (Fra) La Pomme Marseille | 0:00:36 |
| 40 | Sean Downey (Irl) An Post - Chainreaction | 0:01:45 |
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