Eddie Dunbar a close second on final stage of the Tour de l’Avenir

Eddie Dunbar just missed out on a stage victory on the final day of the Tour de l’Avenir in France on Sunday, finishing second at the summit finish of Saint-Colomban-des-Villards Col du Glandon. The Team Ireland rider was part of a three-man group which chased down Gino Mader (Switzerland), and who were subsequently joined by two others.

Dunbar led out the gallop but just before the line, Mader was able to draw slightly ahead and take the win by a narrow margin. Dunbar’s performance saw him jump from 16th to eighth in the final overall standings. He ended the race two minutes 47 seconds behind Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia).

In Switzerland, Lara Gillespie ended her junior European championship campaign in style when she took fourth in Sunday’s Madison race with teammate Gabby Homer. Gillespie had a hugely successful time at the championships, winning the points race on Saturday, netting second in the individual pursuit, and taking fourth in Friday’s Omnium.

Meanwhile Nicolas Roche was best of the two Irish on Sunday’s second stage of the Vuelta a España. He finished 27th, 15 seconds behind the stage winner Alejandro Valverde. Dan Martin was a minute further back in 50th.

Angling Notes: Litter still a major problem for Ireland’s waterways

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Niamh McCarthy signs off with another gold

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Roche’s BMC Racing Team leader Richie Porte finished over 13 minutes behind, most likely because of recent stomach issues. Roche is the best BMC rider overall in 23rd place, 50 seconds back, and could potentially get the full backing of the team. His teammate Rohan Dennis won Saturday’s time trial, but lost the same time as Porte on Sunday. Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) finished second overall on both days and leads overall.

On Saturday, Cycling Ulster rider Adam Ward took an excellent stage win on day two of the Junior Tour of Wales. Fellow Irishman Aaron Doherty (NRPT-Chill Insurance) was third.

Leading positions after Stage 2 (Marbella-Caminito del Rey, 163.9km): 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4hrs 13mins 01sec, 2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky at same time, 3 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors at 03secs, 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb at same time, 5 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo, 6 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, 7 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, 8 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale, 9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team, 10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, 11 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, 12 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe all at same time, 13 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors at 08secs, 14 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo at same time, 15 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida, 16 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale, 17 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky, 18 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors, 19 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, 20 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe all at same time Selected others: 21 Simon Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott at same time, 27 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team at 15secs, 50 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates at 01min 15secs, 52 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Gbr) Team Sky at 01min 26secs, 149 Adam Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott at 13mins 31secs, 170 Stephen Cummings (Gbr) Dimension Data at same time

Leading general classification after Stage 2: 1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 4hrs 22mins 40secs, 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team at 14secs, 3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb at 25secs, 4 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors at 28secs, 5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida at 30secs, 6 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo at same time, 7 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe at 32secs, 8 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 33secs, 9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team at same time, 10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo at 35secs, 11 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo at 37secs, 12 Simon Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott at same time, 13 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors at 42secs, 14 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe at same time, 15 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors at 43secs, 16 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at same time, 17 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal at 44secs, 18 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo at 45secs, 19 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates at 47secs, 20 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale at 48secs Selected others: 23 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team at 50secs, 43 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Gbr) Team Sky at 01min 50secs, 45 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates at 01min 53secs, 143 Stephen Cummings (Gbr) Dimension Data at 14mins 00secs, 147 Adam Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott at 14mins 11secs ends 261748 AUG 18