Archie Ryan has taken a dominant win on the queen stage at Ronde de L'Isard today. On the final climb he was part of a five-man select group that also contained his Jumbo Visma Development team mate Johannes Staune-Mittet, who has led the race since winning stage 1.
When 3rd placed overall Reuben Thompson (Equipe Continentale Groupama-FDJ) attacked the select group on the 9.5km climb to the summit finish at Goulier Neige, Ryan responded and pulled clear with the Kiwi rider. However, the Irishman later dropped back to the group and paced Staune-Mittet and the others back up to the lone leader.
Once that gap had been closed right down - the yellow jersey defended - Staune-Mittet then hit the front to give Ryan a break. And once Thompson was finally reabsorbed into the group, Ryan pulled the trigger.
Advertisement
He attacked off the front and sprinted away from the rest of the other four riders to take a brilliant stage victory; his third of the season after claiming a stage at Tour de Slovakia the week before last and also winning the Ronde de l'Isard TTT stage on Wednesday with his team mates.
Related News
Today's win was especially impressive as Ryan took on a lot of the work on the front of the group on the final climb; setting a pace in a bid to keep Staune-Mittet in yellow, which was the team's main objective today.
The Irishman was then able to move with Kiwi rider Thompson when he attacked, before dropping back to the group to tow them up to Thompson. And despite having put in such a big shift, Ryan still had the legs to go again and claim the stage.
Such a performance in one of the biggest races on the European calendar for U23s really underlines his form at present. He has been in flying form since Tour de l'Avenir where he finished 4th overall and is now enjoying a dream end to his season.
