Cameron Karwowski finished in the peloton to retain his challenge on the under-23 honours midway through the Tour of Ireland today but it could have ended even better for the Southland cyclist.
Karwowski finished with the bunch in 17th place, nine seconds behind the winner in the challenging 135km fourth stage to Bundoran on the north-west coast of Ireland.
He leads the BikeNZ-Pure Black Racing national under-23 team, although today's expected benign stage proved anything but as the attacks were plenty from the gun. Piet Bulling, Scott Creighton and Taylor Gunman covered the potential breaks.
Karwowski pushed hard for the break with 15km remaining along with the yellow jersey of Switzerland's Pirmin Lang and two other general classification contenders as looks to contend for the lead in the under-23 honours.
The teams of the key challengers not in that break ramped up the chase with sufficient fury to split open the peloton, and they eventually reeled in the Kiwi's brave move. He tried again with 5km remaining but, after expending all reserves, had to be content to finish in the peloton.
