Megan Armitage sixth in Italy as Archie Ryan’s lack of preparation hampers in France

Megan Armitage (Arkéa Pro Cycling) performed well on stage two of the Giro Toscana Internazionale Femminile in Italy on Friday, netting sixth on the stage to Serrvalle Pistoiese.

The 99.35km race ended with a 1.2km ramp to the finish line, with Armitage finishing in the same time as the winner Rasa Leleivyte (Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano). All those behind her lost at least four seconds, with the peloton coming home in dribs and drabs due to the tough finale.

She jumped up 13 places to sixth overall. Fellow Irishwoman Imogen Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck Continental) was 57th on the stage.

The 2.2-ranked race continues on Saturday with the penultimate stage, a 116.8km race to Segromigno in Piano. This features a first category climb close to the finish, with the summit just over six kilometres from the line.

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In France, Archie Ryan’s lack of racing this year cost him on stage 6 of the Tour de l’Avenir. The Wicklow rider had knee problems for several months and only did one day of competition before starting the French event.

While he was seventh and eighth on stages this week and looked to be riding well on the gruelling Col de la Loze climb on Friday, he slipped back approximately halfway through the 35km ascent, losing time from there.

He finished 42nd with Jamie Meehan three places back in the same group. Kevin McCambridge was 66th and Odhran Doogan was unfortunately a non-finisher after a crash.

While Ryan will be disappointed with how things turned out, he can take encouragement from his two top 10 finishes this week after what has been a very turbulent season. He looks set to return to winning ways once he has more racing kilometres in his legs.

Ryan is one of the most promising young Irish riders and recently confirmed a pro contract with the WorldTour EF Education-Easypost squad, starting next year.

The Tour de l’Avenir continues until Sunday.

Finally, Sam Bennett and the rest of the sprinters finished a long way back on the mountain stage of the Deutschland Tour on Friday. Austrian rider Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar Team) was first to the line. The race continues over the weekend with two stages which are more straightforward.

Saturday’s race to Essen is undulating and may prove too selective for a sprint, but Sunday’s concluder to Bremen is almost completely flat and should give Bennett a good opportunity.