Archie Ryan clocked up the first win of his pro career in style on Friday, blazing to a solo win at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in Italy.
The Wicklow rider attacked with approximately six kilometres remaining of the stage to Brisighella, dropping race leader Koen Bouwman (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), second-placed rider Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) plus the other general classification contenders on the penultimate climb.
The Lotto Dstny squad mounted a furious chase but, digging deep on the final ramp to the line, Ryan held on by a bike length to win the stage.
“I thought the gap was big enough so I thought I could get the win,” said the EF Education EasyPost pro. “But I didn’t know how fast the peloton was going. I knew I had it when I looked back at the final corner and there was still a decent gap. I thought, ‘If I don’t lock up, I’ve got this.’”
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Ryan finished just ahead of the Belgian Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Dstny), taking the ten second time bonus for the victory. Ulissi and Bouwman were sixth and seventh, out of the bonuses, meaning Ryan got time back on both of them.
He jumped from fifth to second overall and will begin Saturday’s final stage just nine seconds off the race lead.
“We knew the place for him to go was the hardest part of the race,” team sport director Tom Southam said. “But what we needed to happen was for the race to be hard enough to make it really selective beforehand. It panned out to be a really hard day which meant that when Archie went, he was obviously going to be harder to catch because then it’s a real question of legs instead of tactics.”
That final leg is a very difficult one with no less than 11 climbs. Ryan told The Irish Times earlier this week that he and the team planned to go all out on the concluding day to try to win the race overall and he is certain to try to do that on Saturday.
The 22-year-old turned professional after a superb amateur career. He won stages in the Tour de l’Avenir, the Tour of Slovakia and the Ronde de l’Isard, and last autumn finished second in the under 23 Il Lombardia classic.
He is a very strong climber and is regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in the sport.
