Cycling: Kiwi denied shot at lead

Shane Archbold. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand cyclist Shane Archbold made a brave attempt to claim the overall lead on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Ireland yesterday but his effort was denied by the team of yellow jersey-holder Gediminas Bagdonas.

Archbold was part of a group that established a four-minute lead over the peloton midway through the 161km stage to Kildare which put the Timaru rider into the lead, but the An Post Sean Kelly team of Lithuanian Bagdonas mounted a chase and when the leading group attacked again with 25km to go Archbold could not go with them and was caught by the chasers.

Ireland's Martyn Irvine, who led the attack, held on to win the stage with the peloton 50 metres behind.

Archbold holds a three- point advantage over Bagdonas in the race for the points jersey while teammate Aaron Gate leads the young rider classification by 50 seconds from Archbold.

Today's final stage to Skerries covers 133km with five category three climbs and two laps of a 13km finishing loop of the town.

Last week, Archbold was edged out of victory in a sprint finish at the end of the fourth stage of the tour. The BikeNZ endurance track squad member was pipped on the line by tour leader Bagdonas at the end of the 142km stage.

- NZPA