Archie Ryan was back at the front of an international bike race when the road kicked up in Croatia today; the young Irish rider findings his impressive climbing legs once more after a year away from racing due to injury.
The 20-year-old, riding for the Jumbo Visma development team ended today’s stage of the Istrian Spring Trophy in 6th place and was among a very small select group by the time the strongest climbers reached the line on the uphill finish.
Ryan took the
initiative late on the 3.5km climb and attacked with about 400m to go in a bid
to take the stage victory. He entered the final 200m – a very steep section over cobbles – in 2nd place. While the cobbles undid his final effort a little,
and he was passed by a number of his rivals, he ended the stage in 6th place
and has now shot into contention overall.
With three of
the four stages in the UCI 2.2-ranked race now completed, Ryan is up to 7th
overall and is best placed of his team in the general standings ahead of tomorrow’s
finale.
Today’s stage
took the riders 175km from Novigrad to Motovun, with two modest climbs
before the summit finish. As the main field hit the final climb it split to
pieces, with a select group gradually emerging into the headwind.
French rider Alex Baudin (Swiss Racing Academy) proved
best on the cobbled finish to win the stage from Ecuador’s Harold
Martin Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan Development);
the winner and runner-up finishing on the same time.
There was then a gap of four seconds to
the next four riders, including Ryan in 6th place. And after that small group
the gaps were much bigger down the field. Ryan clearly proved to be one of the
very best climbers in the race today and was making a return to the impressive
climbing shifts he put in during the 2020 season before last year was ruined by
an ACL injury.
Fellow Irish rider Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) also put in a very solid ride today, finishing in 31st place and just 55 seconds down on the winner. Rafferty (18), who has just stepped up from the junior ranks to Continental level, was on team duties today as his US team mate Matthew Riccitello (20) was 2nd overall going into today’s stage. He was one of two riders to gain 40 seconds on the main field yesterday.
While Riccitello
was beaten to that stage victory yesterday by British rider Sean Flynn (Swiss
Racing Academy), Riccitello took the yellow jersey today after Flynn was
distanced on the final climb. That was a great result for Rafferty and his
team, who will now seek to defend the yellow jersey tomorrow.
The race began
on Thursday with a 1.5km prologue TT, which was won by Russian rider Matevž Govekar (Tirol KTM). Ryan was 35th at five seconds while Rafferty was 56th
at seven seconds.
Yesterday’s stage – some 152km into Funtana – saw Flynn and Riccitello survive from a
breakaway; Flynn winning by five seconds from Riccitello. The main bunch was 40
seconds down, with Rafferty and Ryan in that group and placing 69th and 100th.
With just the final stage to come, which is mostly flat though there is some modest climbing, Ryan is 7th at 38 seconds and Rafferty is 35th at 1:26.
