Liam Curley was the best finisher of the Irish team overall in the three-stage L'Etoile d'Or in France while JB Murphy also got into the mix today.
The race - the latest round of the UCI U23 Nations Cup - was run off in very high temperatures, rising above 30 degrees at times. A combination of that heat, several crashes and the Dutch riders to the fore and forcing the pace in the crosswinds and 2,500 metres of vert all made for very hard racing.
On today’s final stage – 182km starting and finishing in Montmorillon in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region - Murphy and Curley finished in the main field, which was whittled down to just 75 riders from a starting field of 140.
The bunch sprint for victory today was taken by Paul Penhoët (France), who normally rides with the Groupama-FDJ development team. Vito Braet (Belgium), who is riding this season with Lotto-Soudal U23, was 2nd. Matevž Govekar (Slovenia) was 3rd.
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While Ireland’s Murphy tried to force his way to the front of the bunch in the closing stages, some of the other nations, who had numbers in the group, dictated the action and the head of the peloton.
In the end Murphy had to settle for 22nd after a long and chaotic final sprint, with Curley finishing on the same time, in 56th place.
Fellow Irish riders Adam Ward and Luke Smith finished in 87th and 88th, in a group 7:47 down. Leo Doyle was among 25 non finishers on today’s final stage, but had been on the attack early in the stage and got clear in a group that spent time up the road.
The overall was won by Poland’s Filip Maciejuk, who took yellow on the stage 1 TT yesterday morning. Kevin Vauquelin (France) and Filippo Baroncini (Italy) were 2nd and 3rd overall, both at six seconds.
Liam Curley was 46th overall, at 1:44, while Adam Ward was 70th at 8:51. JB Murphy was 74th at 9:14 and Luke Smith was 83rd at 16:18.
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The opening stage, a 9.6km TT in Pouligny-Saint-Pierre,yesterday morning was won by eventual overall winner Filip Maciejuk (Poland). He clocked a time of 11:49 to win by six seconds from Kevin Vauquelin (France), with Johan Price-Pejtersen (Denmark) in 3rd at 11 seconds.
Of the Irish team, Adam Ward was 31st at 47 seconds, Luke
Smith was 55th at 59 seconds, Cian Keogh was 85th at 1:16, JB Murphy was 92nd
at 1:23, Liam Curley was 96th at 1:27 and Leo Doyle was 122nd at 2:04.
Yesterday afternoon’s stage 2 took the riders some 142km from Mérigny-Saint-Savin to Le Blanc. And while there were six categorised climbs on the course, many other climbs were not categorised, including one on the finishing circuit negotiated three times.
The speed, high temperatures and crosswinds saw the field absolutely shredded. The stage was won by Filippo Baroncini (Italy), the same rider who denied Ireland’s Ben Healy victory in the TT at the Baby Giro by just one second.
The Italian 20-year-old attacked from the bunch,
numbering about 65 riders at the time, with just under 10km to go and rode to
victory.
Behind him, the bunch containing Ireland’s Adam Ward and
Liam Curley remained intact until the final 2km when a three-man chase group
got clear and finished eight seconds behind the winner. There was then a gap of
three seconds back to the bunch.
However, some gaps emerged in the main field in the final
run in to the line, with Ward and Curly 49th and 51st at 32 seconds; in the
main field but on the wrong side of some splits through that strung-out
64-rider bunch.
Luke Smith was 85th on the stage, in a large group 7:47
down on the winner. JB Murphy was 101st at 8:06. Murphy got distanced in the
crosswinds only to fight his way back after a 40km chase and pay for those
efforts on the finishing circuits.
Leo Doyle placed 113th, and in a group 14:29 down. Some
14 riders were either outside the time cut or did not finish on yesterday
afternoon’s stage 2. Ireland’s Cian Keogh was, unfortunately, among them; a
victim of the very high temperatures on the day and just missing the cut.
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