Rory Townsend stays second overall in in the International Tour of Hellas in Greece

National road race champion Rory Townsend maintained his second place overall in the International Tour of Hellas, riding well on Thursday’s stage to Kalamata.

The Bolton Equities Black Spoke rider finished sixth in the large bunch sprint, racing home in the same time as stage winner Timothy Dupont (Tarteletto – Isorex). Fellow Irishman Jesse Ewart (Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team) was 78th.

Townsend remains second in the overall standings, nine seconds behind his team-mate Aaron Gate. Their squad is best in the team classification.

Stage three takes the riders 153 kilometres to Kyparissia and includes the category one climb of Poros early on, plus a second category ascent 20 kilometres from the finish line. The race ends in Olympia on Saturday.

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In Spain, race leader Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) notched up her second consecutive stage win in the La Vuelta Femenina, outsprinting Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) and 27 other riders into Guadalajara. The time bonuses picked up saw her extend her overall lead to 25 seconds over closest challenger Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRam Racing).

Irishwoman Fiona Mangan (Soltec Team) was 97th on the stage and is now 118th overall. She is the first rider from Ireland to compete in the women’s Vuelta a España.