After mixed fortunes to start the Tour de Wallonie, Riley Sheehan experienced the joy and cruelty of cycling once again in Eupen on Thursday.
Sheehan looked like he was about to claim his second win on Wallonian roads in the space of three weeks this afternoon when no other rider could follow his bold solo attack with 7km to go.
He showed off his technical prowess on a fast and technical approach to the flamme rouge, maintaining a small gap over his nearest GC rivals after another hard day of racing in the rain on undulating terrain.
However, the uphill final kilometer proved too much for Sheehan, as the surging home rider Arnaud De Lie (LOI) managed to close down what appeared to be a stage-winning gap to pass him barely meters from the finish line.
Sheehan says: “You know, I’m a bit disappointed and just in shock. I went so, so deep, and to get passed on the line by De Lie is heartbreaking. It’s good to be up there in the fight on GC today. I made some progress today, and I’m proud of the effort.
“It was the tactic to attack on the final climb – [Krists] Neilands was also up there, so it was going to be one of us, and I saw a good moment to put some pressure on. I saw how good I felt on the top of the climb, and I thought I’d keep on going. I made the gap, and from there I was just holding off the peloton. I went so, so deep, and it almost paid off!
The American’s second place adds to an eventful four days in Belgium so far for Sheehan. He placed third in heavy rain on stage 2, but suffered a flat tire in the final KM in Monday’s opener and was caught behind a huge crash late on in Wednesday’s stage.
Nonetheless, his heroics moved him into the race lead, as he looks to emulate teammate Corbin Strong’s GC victory in last year’s edition. He holds a three-second lead over Ben Oliver (MAP) and De Lie, with fourth-placed Kim Heiduk (NCI) a further 12 seconds in arrears.
“It’s good to hear that I’m the leader,” he adds. “Tomorrow is the hardest day, I hope it’s not any harder than I went today, but with the team we have, I think we have a good shot at this. The guys are really strong, and the team we have, I think we can give everything. I feel confident in our team – let’s play our cards right, and let’s go for the win.
“I really enjoy the parcours here, it’s really nice. It suits me well – I’m a punchy rider. If I can win this race it would be fantastic.”
DS Dror Pekatch believes Sheehan moving into the distinctive orange jersey is a belated reward for the team’s performance in Belgium this week.
He says: “Finally, today we got what we deserved more or less after three days – the first day we had the bad luck of a flat tire in the end, and then a crash yesterday. We knew Riley was one of the strongest guys, and we know we have a good team here.
“He took his shot going for the bonus seconds going on the last climb, and then he held his gap until the finish. He missed out by one meter, basically, so it’s bittersweet to take the jersey.
“The race will be decided tomorrow – there are very small gaps on GC, there are the intermediate sprints, so we will need to fight tomorrow. We are ready for the challenge, but we know it’s going to be very hard. We will do our best – we’ve got seven guys here riding very well every day.”