When then-stagiaire Brendan Canty (Drapac) performed strongly on the Abu Dhabi Tour’s summit finish at Jebel Hafeet last October, it was tempting to downplay the Australian’s display by crediting it simply to a relative lack of motivation from more the more illustrious names in the field.
An eighth-place finish on Green Mountain on stage 4 of the Tour of Oman on Friday, however, was something of a confirmation for Canty, who is in his first full year as a professional and only his third as a bike rider of any description.
“The stagiaire ride I did with Drapac at Abu Dhabi was my first chance to ride like that against WorldTour riders and I took a lot from that,” Canty told Cyclingnews in Yiti on Saturday. “Not too many are aware of who I am or what I’ve done, being relatively new to the sport, but things have just been improving constantly so it’s exciting to see where things head in the future.”
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As calling cards go, Canty’s showing on Green Mountain was a memorable one. The 23-year-old hung tough in the leading group as eventual stage winner Vincenzo Nibali’s Astana team laid down an infernal rhythm early on, and was one of just three riders still on the Sicilian’s wheel entering the final two kilometres.
Although Canty was eventually distanced under the impetus of Romain Bardet’s attacking on the approach to the summit, he finished eighth on the stage, just 45 seconds down, enough to move into the white jersey of best young rider. He finished safely in the front group to defend that jersey on Saturday’s penultimate stage and – barring mishap in the final leg to Matrah Corniche – will finish the race in seventh place overall.
“The team did a really good job of getting me right up to the front and I think I was in fourth or fifth wheel when we hit the climb and that saves a huge amount of energy because you don’t have to surge past riders who get dropped,” Canty said of his Green Mountain showing.
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