NZ pair lead the way in Tour of Ireland
New Zealand cyclists Aaron Gate and Alex Frame led the field home on day two of the Tour of Ireland.
Gate, riding for his An Post Chain Reaction continental team, outsprinted compatriot Frame for the stage victory in the town of Gort, near Galway, in the west of Ireland on Tuesday (NZ time).
The pair form part of the Cycling New Zealand endurance track cycling team racing on the roads in Europe as part of their preparation for the summer track season which will be highlighted with the UCI World Cup, in Cambridge, in December.
The second stage of 158 kilometres from Kilkenny to Gort included five category three climbs, with a three-strong break building a six-minute advantage before Bryan McCrystal (Team Asea), who had driven the break, pushed clear in a solo effort.
He had a 3min 20sec lead with 30km to go and a three minute advantage with 14km left before the peloton, driven in part by the Kiwi team, ramped things up with the leader caught with 5km remaining.
Gate, the 2013 omnium world champion, got the best run in the wet conditions to outsprint Frame, the world champion in the team pursuit, to the finish finish.
Gate won in 3:29:26, from Frame, at the head of the 28-strong peloton including fellow New Zealand team member Nick Bain, all given the same time as the winner, while Southland’s Nick Kergozou headed the second bunch.
While third on points, Gate assumes the leader’s green jersey in the points race with Lukas Postlberger (Austria) in yellow ahead of Jaap De Man (Belgium), with the Kiwi 15th overall, 3:48 behind the Austrian.
Frame is fourth in the race for the points jersey while Bain is the best of the New Zealand team riders on general classification in 22nd place, 5:07 down on the leader, and seventh in the youth rider category. The tour finishes in Skerries, near Dublin, on Monday (NZ time).