Ireland has lost over two minutes to some fancied general classification riders at Tour de l’Avenir. Dean Harvey has also been forced out. And the impressive French have been flexing. But the Irish have no reason to panic (Photo: Quentin Joly)

The Irish U23 team went into Tour de l’Avenir with real general classification and stage win prospects. And, perhaps uniquely for an Irish team on this race, the national team had chances in the sprints, against the watch, in the breakaways and on the climbs.

Liam O’Brien and Jamie Meehan have climbed with the very best in Europe this season and taken significant general classification results. And both were definitely genuine contenders for a top five place, even the final podium, when this race started.

But having lost out on placing any riders in the 19-man stage 2 breakaway, which gained 2:27, how badly damaged are Team Ireland’s chances now? And with half the French team having done a team time trial effort off the front of the peloton today, to join five men already up the road – and Ireland missing the boat – was today’s stage another setback for the Irish?

Ireland’s Dean Harvey is also out of the race, having sustained a tear to his calf muscle in a stage 1 crash, while our riders are finding themselves very heavily marked, especially by the French – maybe the best team in the race. It appears the French – led by up and coming superstar Paul Seixas – have been studying the form book. And Liam O’Brien has not been allowed to get out of their sights with four stages done and four to come.

Stage 3 scare for Team Ireland

Today, on the 158.6km stage 3 to Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, five riders were about two minutes up the road when Seixas attacked with his team mates – Antoine L’Hote and Victor Loulergue – about 70km from the finish. They blasted across the gap to catch the leaders, making for an eight-man breakaway.

Ronan O’Connor of Team Ireland during today’s stage 3 stage; the third road stage following the opening uphill prologue (Photo: Quentin Joly)

Thankfully, once the French trio made their move, the peloton responded immediately, especially Great Britain, Italy and Belgium. And not too long after the French trio caught the leaders, the peloton had that group back to 20 seconds, then caught them. That ensured Seixas and his team mates were not allowed to pull off a coup.

Later, a second breakaway got clear and Danish rider Carl-Frederik Bévort – who had also been in the first move – went solo from it, holding off the bunch by 12 seconds to win. It meant the Irish suffered no time loss today as all of them – Dunwoody, 3rd on the stage, O’Brien, Meehan, Rafferty and Ronan O’Connor, were in the bunch.

More damaging to the Irish was the stage 2 breakaway that gained 2:27. Not only has the Irish team lost time to some very good general classification men who were in that move, it was a big chance lost. Had Rafferty or Dunwoody been in the breakaway, they may have won the day, as they did on stages of Giro Next Gen in June.

The dangermen who have gained time

If O’Brien or Meehan had been in the breakaway, they would have gained invaluable time in their bid to make the final podium. So who were the dangermen who gained time in that stage 2 breakaway?

Filippo Turconi (Italy), a 19-year-old who rides for VF Group – Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, was 5th overall at Giro d’Italia Next Gen (2.2U) this year and also won Giro del Medio Brenta (1.2) and Trofeo Piva (1.2U), among string of top international results.

When the French trio, led here by Seixas, took off in pursuit of the five leaders today, the power at their disposal was very obvious (Photo: Quentin Joly)

Poland’s Filip Gruszczynski, a 20-year-old who rides for Biesse-Carrera-Premac, has finished 10th this year in Giro della Valle d’Aosta-Mont Blanc (2.2U) and 11th at Giro Next Gen (2.2U).

Arno Wallenborn from Luxembourg – who usually rides for Tudor Pro Cycling – was 14th in the U23 road race at the hilly World Road Championships in Swizerland last year and has races like Tour of the Alps (2.Pro) in his legs this year.

Sunday’s stage winner Elliot Rowe, a 19-year-old riding for Great Britain, is a first-year U23 and has no major general classification results yet in the category. However, as a junior last year he was runner-up in the Junior Tour of Wales and 6th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1.1), meaning he might muster a challenge yet.

Demark’s Simon Dalby is another of those who got into the breakaway on stage 2. Aged 22 years and in his second season with Uno-X Mobility, he was 6th overall in this race last year.

He took a stage and 2nd overall at the UCI Nations Cup stage race, Course de la Paix Grand Prix Jeseníky in Czech Republic earlier this year. He was 10th overall at Tour of Oman – riding against World Tour teams – at the start of the season; placing 11th on the Green Mountain uphill finish.

The man who now has the yellow jersey thanks to his presence in the breakaway, Maxime Decomble (France), could also mount a GC challenge. Aged 20 years, he currently rides for Equipe Continentale Groupama-FDJ but has already been signed by the Groupama-FDJ World Tour team for the next two seasons.

He was 12th on GC at O Gran Camiño (2.1) this year, riding for the World Tour team, as well as placing 2nd overall at Alpes Isère Tour (2.2). He placed 3rd in the TT at O Gran Camiño and 5th in the test at Etoile de Bessèges (2.1), meaning the final stage TT this week will be up his street.

However, though missing that stage breakaway 2 was a blow for Team Ireland it was far from terminal. They may still win a stage – Rafferty and Dunwoody could get a chance tomorrow. And Thursday’s mountaintop finish to Tignes 2100 – a stage with 3,900m of climbing – will offer a great chance for O’Brien and Meehan to put a deposit down on a general classification result.

The same can be said for the final day of racing on Friday, with a split stage awaiting. There is a 41.6km stage 6a road race to La Rosière in the morning. The route is comprised of the HC climb of Colle San Carlo – some 10.3km at 10 per cent – followed by the cat 1 Col du Petit Sanit-Bernard, 13.2km at 5.6 per cent, and a 2.2km ascent, at six per cent, to finish.

The short and very sharp morning road race is followed in the afternoon by stage 6b, a 10.3km mountain TT to La Rosière. It averages 6.6 per cent, though the opening 5.5km is between 9 and 10 per cent.

So far, Ireland is down a strong man in Dean Harvey and they have lost time to a clutch of general classification riders – good GC men, but not the very best in the field. Perhaps the most notable feature so far is just how strong the French team has looked.

However, the Irish riders knew all about the French, especially Seixas, before this race started. And though losing 2:27 to some general classification riders is far from ideal, that kind of time loss is not a deal-breaker for the GC aspiractions of O’Brien and Meehan.

It all depends on their legs over the final two days of racing. And, before then, Rafferty or Dunwoody may get a shot at victory on the mostly flat stage tomorrow. All in all, it is still all to play for for Team Ireland.