Ronan O'Connor climbs highest to win Shay Elliott Classic
The former national junior champion had been part of numerous breaks throughout the day but crucially made his way into the 14-rider group that forced its way to the front with about 20km to go. O'Connor then pulled clear with JB Murphy to forge ahead, hitting the bottom of the final climb with 20-seconds advantage ahead of three chasers.
O'Connor dropped his breakaway companion Murphy as the road rose upwards to claim one of the biggest one-day races in the Irish calendar.
'It's a huge honour, it's such a historic race. I'm really delighted to add my name to the trophy,' he said after joining a roll of honour that includes Seán Kelly, Martyn Irvine and Martin Earley.
O'Neill and Ruairi Byrne passed Murphy on the climb to the line to take second and third place.
At the Giro d'Italia today Mads Pedersen outsprinted Corbin Strong to win stage three, the Dane's second stage victory of this year's race which also saw him reclaim the overall leader's jersey from Primoz Roglic.
Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who won the opening stage, took to the front in the final metres and held off New Zealander Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) for the win. The win gave Pedersen a 10-second bonus, which means he retakes the pink jersey from race favourite Roglic, having begun the day one second behind the Slovenian.
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