David McCann yesterday won the world-ranked Tour of Hokkaido race in Japan, completing one of the most successful overseas campaigns in years for the Irish team.

The double national champion finished seventh in the bunch sprint which decided the final stage, a high-speed criterium around the streets of Sapporo, and won the race outright by 1 minute and 43 seconds. His three stage victories also earned him victory in the points competition.

In addition to the second-ever Irish triumph in the event (Stephen Spratt won in 1992), there was more success for the squad.

Paul Griffin took a stage victory, finished third overall and won the mountains jersey, while Paddy Moriarty repeated his fourth place of last year. The quintet also came out on top in the best team classification as the Irish squad amassed 77 valuable UCI world-ranking points.