Rian McCrystal is in his first Junior Tour of Ireland and it hasn't taken him long to find his feet as he has won stage 3 today (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Rian McCrystal (Team Ireland) has seized his chance on stage 3 at the Quanta Capital Junior Tour of Ireland, getting in the main breakaway of the day and winning into Whitegate.
The Co Louth rider, a first-year junior, got the better of runner-up Alex Botha (Hot Tubes) and 3rd place finisher Cormac Nagle (Hot Tubes).
McCrystal also takes the race leader's yellow jersey, capping a fantastic day out on the roads of Co Clare.
The top three on the day clipped off the front of the nine-man breakaway on the run in to the finish. They were chased six seconds later by a number of survivors from the breakaway, with the peloton right behind, just eight seconds down on the winner.
It was an incredibly close finish, despite the fact the breakaway had an advantage of over two minutes at one point.
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How stage 3 unfolded
Immediately the flag dropped on the 103km stage from Ennis to Whitegate, James Armstrong and Darragh Byrne, both of the Irish national team, were on the attack. But they were closed down by the American Hot Tubes team.
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Then it was the turn of Riley Smith (Cycling Ulster) and couple of others to have a go, though it was not until about 15km completed that the main breakaway of the day formed.
And when they got together, they numbered 10, including Irish riders Hugh Óg Mulhearne and Rian McCrystal, both Team Ireland.
Also there were: Gregory DeBenedetti (Team California), Alex Botha (Hot Tubes), Nathan Riemer (Boulder Junior Cycling), Cormac Nagle (Hot Tubes), Ethan Courson (DDP Elite Cycling), Alex Snider (EF Education-ONTO), Clark LaVoie (Team Velosport) and Noah Wheller (Lee Valley Youth CC).
They built their advantaged over the peloton to 1:30 by the time they reached the first KOH prime of the day at 49km. However, Gregory DeBenedetti (Team California) lost his place up front after a puncture.
Mulhearne took the first KOH, from DeBenedetti and Snider. And at the second KOH, Mulhearne again led over the top, this time from Snider and McCrystal.
The advantage soon reached 2:10, though a significant chase was on from behind, with yellow jersey Glen Gregory Koiv (Team Rauland) getting involved in the work on the front.
And with 35km to go, the breakaway's advantage was coming down, to 1:40. It had fallen further, down to just under one minute, with 20km to go.
And that advantage for the leaders was down to just 30 seconds even before they reached the 10km to go marker. The peloton - with super strong teams in there - had ramped up the pace after the nine men out front.
However, that chase was not enough and the spoils were taken by the breakaway men.
