Roche pips Deignan in Irish one-two

Cycling: Ireland’s Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan claimed to top two places on the podium at the Tour of Beijing after a thrilling…

Cycling:Ireland's Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan claimed to top two places on the podium at the Tour of Beijing after a thrilling finish to the third stage.

Roche edged Deignan in the final sprint with England’s Chris Froome having to settle for third place.

The win for Roche, his first World Tour win, lifts him to 11th in the overall standings with Germany’s Tony Martin retaining his general classification lead after winning the opening time trial on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a low-flying helicopter sent a sign board into the path of Yannick Eijssen and the Belgian rider was knocked out of the tour in the freak incident.

Eijssen was then hit by a TV motorbike that was following the peloton, his BMC Racing team said. He suffered facial abrasions in the accident, which occurred in the final descent of the third stage.

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