EUGENE MURTAGH of Finglas Ravens defended his overall lead in great style yesterday on his way to winning the Dunboyne three day race yesterday.

On the final stage of 73 miles there were numerous breakaway attempts but with Murtagh constantly at the front of the main group none succeeded in building up a worthwhile lead.

The attacks continued until near the end but they were all nullified. Then in a bunch sprint into Dunboyne for the last time Seamus Howard of Stamullen produced the best finishing burst and got to the line ahead of Vincent Gleeson with Pat Shiels third.

The judges could only place the first five but Murtagh was safely in the pack to retain his lead of 12 seconds over Simon Kelly with Philip Lee third.

Ian Chivers won the Glasgow to Dunoon race on Sunday. Chivers and the other three members of the Ireland team all figured prominently in breakaways but near the end of the 82 miles Chivers went clear with James Millar of Paisley and they finished five seconds ahead of the main group. Michael O'Donnell, Barry Whelan and Paddy Moriarty were all together in the big pack at the end.

Alexandre Gontchenkov left his Swiss pursuers trailing in his wake yesterday as the Ukrainian swept to a solo victory in the 16th stage of the Tour of Italy.

Gontchenkov broke up his threesome with Heinz Imboden and Felice Puttini some 12 kms before the end of the 180 km run from Aosta, and finished the day 20 seconds clear of the Swiss pair.

Gontchenkov, who won his first victory as a professional here in 1993, was delighted with his return, saying: "I said this morning I would win, and I did. But I didn't think the last 2 kms would be so hard."

The Ukrainian moved up five places to 27th in the overall standings, 12 min 14 see behind Tonkov.

The day started with a hard climb up the 1,900 metre St Bernard Pass, followed by a white knuckle descent during which a group of 19 riders broke away from the peloton.

The breakaways themselves split during an 80 km run on the flat, with Australia's Stephen Hodge leading the charge as six riders went clear. arriving for the start of a loop around Lausanne.

Gontchenkov arrived on the scene as the six began a short but steep climb up the Sommet Savigny and only Imboden and Puttini, spurred on by the home crowds, tried to follow the Ukrainian.

However, as Gontchenkov rode past the Olympic Museum for the last time, he had a full 45 seconds on his rivals with just five kilometres to the finish, outside the Olympic stadium.