Stephen Clancy drives on the front of the breakaway at the Tour of Hainan. He put in a strong shift after what have been troubled times.
He may have endured a hard time for most of the 2018 season but Stephen Clancy is coming good in China at the Tour of Hainan.
The Novo Nordisk rider spent much of stage 4 earlier today up the road in the main escape.
He gave a very good account of himself in bridging across to the move and then driving it on.
And while the quartet he was a part of was eventually caught and Limerick's Clancy would lose time, it was good to see him off the front of a major race again.
He broke his collar bone at the end of last year and when he came back to training he endured knee problems.
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Those difficulties lingered for many months. Furthermore, it wasn't until the national championships in Sligo in July that he began racing again.
He has competed in races in Canada, Rwanda and China in recent months. And though the season is now almost over he will be relived to end it in good condition.
Today's fourth stage took the riders 142km from Qionghai to Wanning. Three riders went from the gun and Clancy moved after them once it became clear they were gaining a gap.
He caught them and they settled into a good rhythm, building a lead of over three minutes.
With Clancy in the group were Gu Bingcheng (Giant), Niu Yikui (Mitchelton-Scott) and Zhang Zheng (Hengxiang).
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Clancy, middle, really looks like a seasoned pro after six years on the international circuit with Novo Nordisk.
The stage was settled in a bunch sprint; the fourth time in four days the fast men have fought it out for victory.
Stephen Clancy proved to be the engine of the escape, which whittled down to three in the second half of the race.
While there were efforts in the bunch to get a chase group going after the three escapees, only Mongolian champion Maral-Erdene Batmunkh (Terengganu TSG) bridged the gap.
He caught them with about 35km remaining to make it four up front again. The last of them stayed clear until just 7km to go to the finish.
The stage eventually ended in a sprint from the peloton won by Andrea Guardini (Bardiani-CSF).
In 2nd place was Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), with André Looij (Monkey Town Continental) rounding out the podium.
Dylan Page (Swiss National Team) still leads the race after four bunch sprints so far in which he has been 2nd twice and 3rd once, as well as 9th today.
After his breakaway was caught, Clancy rode in to the finish and was 119th some 1:52 down.
However, that time loss is irrelevant to him. The Irish rider is aiming to come out of this week healthy and in good morale before the winter training period.
And getting up the road today, and riding so strongly, very firmly points to the fact his troubled period is now behind him.
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