Marcus Christie wore the U23 classification leader's jersey into today's stage 3 in France but found himself on the wrong side of big splits during today's stage 3, a puncture not helping his cause.
After his success of the opening two stages in the Etoile de Bessèges pro stage race in France, Ireland’s Marcus Christie lost time today and slipped out of the leader’s jersey in the U23 classification.
Sixth on the opening stage on Wednesday from the winning escape and a finisher in the main peloton yesterday, the Irish U23 international went into today’s stage 3 in 5th place overall and best U23 rider.
The 152km stage based on circuits near Bessèges consisted of three laps of 44km followed by another three loops of a shorter 6.8km finishing circuit.
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With the larger circuit featuring a category 1 climb, the field split and Christie lost time, a puncture and a long chase back on not helping his cause. He came home in a group 13:34 down on a bunch of 103 riders that sprinted it out for stage honours after a number of escapes were reeled in.
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That saw the former Foyle CC man turned An Post-Chainreaction rider slip down the standings to 112th overall and to 15th in the U23 category.
However, along with the other time trial specialists in the Irish-backed team, namely Conor Dunne and Ryan Mullen, Christie still has Sunday’s closing 11km time trial stage to look forward to once tomorrow’s 156km leg is completed.
February 5th to 9th: Etoile de Bessèges (UCI 2.1)
February 7th, Stage 3: Bessèges 152km
| 1 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar | 3:46:11 | |
| 2 | Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr | ||
| 3 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | ||
| 4 | Benjamin Giraud (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | ||
| 5 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF | ||
| 6 | Romain Feillu (Fra) Bretagne Séché Environnement | ||
| 7 | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Roubaix Lille Métropole | ||
| 8 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | ||
| 9 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Ned) Lotto Belisol | ||
| 10 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | ||
| 38 | Mark Mc Nally (GBr) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| 101 | Laurent Vanden Bak (Bel) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| 111 | Jack Wilson (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | 0:13:34 | |
| 112 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| 115 | Woute Franssen (Bel) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| 122 | Marcus Christie (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| 126 | Conor Dunne (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| DNF | Kévin Clayes (Bel) An Post - Chain Reaction |
General Classification after 3 of 5 stages
| 1 | Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 10:45:56 | |
| 2 | Benoît Jarrier (Fra) Bretagne Séché Environnement | @5secs | |
| 3 | Boris Dron (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles | @12 | |
| 4 | Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr | @18 | |
| 5 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | @24 | |
| 6 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar | ||
| 7 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr | @26 | |
| 8 | Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) AG2R la Mondiale | @30 | |
| 9 | Rémi Di Gregorio (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | @31 | |
| 10 | Clément Koretzky (Fra) Bretagne Séché Environnement | @32 | |
| 35 | Mark Mc Nally (GBr) An Post - Chain Reaction | @34 | |
| 76 | Laurent Vanden Bak (Bel) An Post - Chain Reaction | ||
| 112 | Marcus Christie (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | @13:50 | |
| 116 | Jack Wilson (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | @14:08 | |
| 122 | Conor Dunne (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | @14:08 | |
| 124 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction | @15:21 | |
| 128 | Woute Franssen (Bel) An Post - Chain Reaction | @21:56 |
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