The Irish team endured a difficult day on stage 7 of Tour de l'Avenir yesterday, with the summit finish of Grand Colombier bringing about a big shake-up in general classification.
Unfortunately, Ireland's Ben Healy was one of those on the back foot and he lost significant time, meaning his general classification aspirations are over.
However, he has won stages on this race and the Baby Giro already in his career and he has two more chances to come, today and tomorrow.
Yesterday, when the race hit the Grand Colombier - some 15.4km at 7.8 per cent - Healy and Kevin McCambridge were well placed in the group and held their position as the road kicked up.
After riding for Healy on the climb for about 4km, the pace got a little too hot for McCambridge, though the 19-year-old did much better than most. Healy remained in the group until it was down to 15 to 20 riders. With about 7km to go, he then slipped back as the racing was going forward off the front.
Advertisement
After Anders Halland Johannessen won Thursday's stage, from his twin brother Tobias, yesterday it was the turn of Tobias to take the victory; winning the stage solo by an impressive margin and taking the race lead.
Related News
At the end of 97.9km of racing, from Saint-Vulbas to the summit of the Grand Colombier, Halland Johannessen attacked from the select group with 7km to go. He quickly caught and passed the remains of the early breakaway and rode on to victory.
On the line he was 1:08 up on Filippo Zana (Italy), with ever impressive British rider Thomas Gloag in 3rd at 1:14. Carlos Rodriguez, the Spanish 20-year-old who normally riders for Ineos Grenadiers, was 4th at 1:24.
Healy finished the stage in 46th place at 8:16 while McCambridge and JB Murphy were 77th and 78th, both 12:37 down. Adam Ward and Liam Curley were 88th and 89th, some 14:13 down, and Dillon Corkery was 109th at 16:45.
That result saw Healy drop from 8th overall to 27th and he is now 9:11 down. Stage winner Tobias Halland Johannessen now has yellow for Norway by 2:17 from Spain's Rodriguez.
The Norwegian rider is now well on his way to taking the overall win, just as his compatriot Tobias Foss did when the race was last run in 2019.
Today's stage 8 is just 71.3km, from La Tour-en-Maurienne to Saint Jean d’Arves. Along the way the riders tackle the 22.1km HC Col de la Croix de Fer at 7 per cent, though the finish is up a smaller 2.4km climb of 8.3 per cent.
Topics
