DANIEL Lloyd (An Post/Sean Kelly) tried his best to stop the Tour of Ireland being a Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) whitewash and thrilled spectators with a brave attack on the third stage from Ballinrobe to Galway.

After the first two stages had finished in a sprint finish, with Cavendish taking the spoils, it was Kieran Page (Pezula) from the Isle of Wight who stormed away.

However, Page was caught by Lloyd and the current under-23 Australian champion Simon Clarke (SouthAustralia.com).

Lloyd and Clarke worked well together and quickly built up a lead of 56 seconds at the 140km mark, which then went up to nearly three minutes at 160 kilometres.

Cavendish's mighty Columbia team then got to work to gradually reduce the deficit.

Unfortunately, Bransgore-based Lloyd crashed on the narrow road at the 170km mark and was never able to get back to the front of the race. Cavendish went on to take victory.

The injuries Lloyd sustained not only stopped him from securing a potential stage win but also robbed him of a good placing overall.

Following the race Lloyd said: "It was slightly disappointing - my legs just weren't the same in the last two stages after my crash. I think it knocked some of the stuffing out of me.

"Obviously I'm hoping for a bit more luck in the Tour of Britain!"

Lloyd, who starts in the national tour this weekend, has been linked, along with Tour de France victor Carlos Sastre, with the newly-formed Cervelo TestTeam.

With the new outfit being registered as a professional continental team, Lloyd can expect to move up a level in the European peloton in 2009 after some hard training, racing and good results.

TREVOR'S TITLE

FORMER Daily Echo cycling correspondent Trevor Fenwick (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers) added another title to his long list of successes by winning the over-75 League of Veteran Racing Cyclists' national age-related road race championship on Sunday.

The race was held over 42 miles and Fenwick enjoyed the hilly course in Warwickshire.

Fenwick now holds the The League International age-related national road race and time trial titles as well as the LVRC criterium championship.

FIRST RACE WIN

AFTER a number of years watching his son Matt win bike races, Christchurch-based Garrett Hill (votwo.co.uk) took his first race win in the Grand Veterans category at the St