New Irish professional Archie Ryan had a fine showing in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, Australia, on Sunday, riding prominently in the winning move and helping teammate Jonas Rutsch to a top-10 finish.
Ryan was to the fore on the big climb inside the final 10km, sitting fourth in line as the bunch split under the pressure.
That ascent reduced the list of contenders to 19 riders, with Ryan then attacking hard on a short climb with 6.1km remaining.
His effort carried him clear of the bunch but flat roads afterwards was a disadvantage and he was reeled in.
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He then tried to mark a dangerous move by Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) with 3.5km to go. And while the US national road race champion pushed ahead alone, that attack was finally reeled in with about 800m to the finish.
The race was won by Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) in a sprint to the line. The Kiwi beat the Eritrean Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek), with Rutsch ninth and Ryan 14th.
Ryan turned professional this month with the EF Education-EasyPost squad and despite the jump in standard of competition, is settling in quickly.
The 22-year-old is a specialist climber and would have relished a hillier finale to the Australian WorldTour race.
He will now return to Europe, with his provisional schedule including the Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy, starting on February 28th.
