Matt Teggart of Team Ireland placed 14th on the opening road stage of Kreiz Breizh Elites in France today, with Liam Curley and Conn McDunphy, both of EvoPro Racing, also making the front group as the field splits to pieces.
Curley and McDunphy were 50th and 66th respectively while Adam Ward (Team Ireland) and Tom Moriarty (Evo Pro Racing) finished 103rd and 105th in the second large group on the road at 9:11.
Odhran Doogan (Team Ireland) was 145th at 17:51, in the same group as Cian Keogh (EvoPro Racing) in 147th, while Kevin McCambridge (Team Ireland) was 148th at 20:08. Paul Antoine Hagan (Team Ireland) was 165th at 28:34 while Matthew Devins (Team Ireland) was a non-finisher.
While the 200km stage from Calanhel to Plouray featured only four categorised climbs there were six non-categorised inclines in the last 50km, including four on the finishing circuit. Those climbs, combined with the pace of the stage, saw the peloton whittled down.
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The main field numbered 85 riders, of 173 starters. Teggart – who is road captain on the Irish U23 team this weekend – took 13th in the bunch sprint for 2nd place some nine seconds after French rider Jean-Louis Le Ny (WB - Fybolia Morbihan) won the stage solo.
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Martijn Budding (Riwal Cycling Team) took the bunch kick for 2nd place from Lander Loockx (Deschacht - Group Hens - Containers Maes), Finn Crockett (Ribble Weldtite) and Tibor del Grosso (Metec-Solarwatt p/b Mantel).
The stage winner left his move late, attacking in the final couple of kilometres and pulling out a gap of about 30 seconds before hanging on for a very impressive win.
The stage had been dominated by a six-man breakaway that gained almost five minutes at one point. In that move were: Rick Ottema (Metec-Solarwatt p/b Mantel), Mattia Guasco (Team Qhubeka), Alexandar Richardson (Saint-Piran), Pierre Thierry (WB-Fybolia Morbihan), et James Fouche (Bolton Equities-Black Spoke Pro Cycling).
While Richardson attacked the move deep into the stage and pressed on for a long time on his own, all of the escapees were swept up, paving the way for what seemed like a sprint from the reduced bunch. However, Le Ny seized his chance close to the finish and had the legs to take the victory.
