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Dan Martin looking super lightweight and shattered at the end of a savage day in the Pyrenees.
Dan Martin vows aggression despite pain of injuries
Winning droves of admirers on this Tour de France, injured Dan Martin says he will be more aggressive in the next phase of the race.
The Irishman said after the finish of today’s fantastic stage 12 that sheer determination and a lot of suffering kept him in the fight.
But in that fight for a podium place in Paris he certainly is.
And though he lost time in the closing 300 metres to his rivals for the podium this Tour suddenly looks wide open.
Perhaps it is the effect of the yellow jersey changing hands, and making a rare move away from the shoulders of Chris Froome, that has given the Tour de France 2017 a new complexion.
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This evening just 35 seconds cover the top four riders overall; new yellow Fabio Aru with 6 seconds in hand over Chris Froome.
Romain Bardet is another 19 seconds back and then comes Rigoberto Uran another 10 seconds in arrears.
Dan Martin is next in the standings and sadly for him the small time gaps only apply to the top four.
He is now 1:41 off leader Aru (Astana) and 1:06 off the man one place ahead of him, Uran (Cannondale-Drapac).
Froome would wilt today and lose at not insignificant 9 seconds to Martin in the final kick to the line on the steep finishing straight.
But with a TT to come and with Froome supported by such a strong team, it is hard to see Ireland’s Martin beating him in this race.
Of the other three men ahead of Dan Martin in the standings; they all gained time on him today. And all three have won great stages in this race.
Aru danced away with stage 5 on an uphill finish when Martin was 2nd. Uran took Sunday’s queen stage when Martin crashed and lost most of the time he is now trailing.
And Bardet won today’s epic encounter atop the Peyragudes after almost six hours in the saddle.
Martin needs two of three things to happen if he is to make the podium to Paris.
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He is counting on the back injury he sustained in Sunday’s crash continuing to recover.
And he also needs at least two of the in-form men ahead of him to implode or to go so well himself that he gets away from them and overhauls them on GC.
Judging by his remarks after today’s stage, he thinks his back is going in the right direction. And he is determined to attack the others in the Alps.
“Without losing that 1:15 I would have been there,” he said of Sunday’s crash-related time loss costing him a place in the top three right now.
“But we've just got to take it day by day and hopefully I keep recovering. My back is still really bad.
“It's taken a lot out of me psychologically as well; all the physio I've had to go through just to try to get ready.
“But obviously it's working. The team is doing a great job. The boys believe in me 100 per cent.
“Even though I felt so bad at the start (today), they were encouraging me. They really believe in the chance that we have to get a podium.
"Like I said this morning, the Pyrenees is just about trying ride conservatively and to try not to lose too much time.
“One day down; just have to get through the stage tomorrow. And then I'll hopefully be able to be a bit more aggressive in the Alps."
And what of today’s stage, when he would finish 6th on a day when a nine man select group would pull clear of the rest of the field?
"From kilometre zero I felt terrible. After 50 kilometres today I expected to lose half an hour,” he said.
“I'm really surprised and happy that the legs came around and the body got going. I was able to not lose too much time, even gain some.
“I'm very happy. I thought I could maybe win the stage but I just had nothing in my legs today.
"The stage was brutal and everyone was exhausted at the finish. I couldn't get out of the saddle properly.
“So that's why I rode as hard as I could to the line, which never seemed to arrive.
“Normally, it would have been a great finish for me, but wasn't the case, as the circumstances were different.
"Hopefully I will make a full recovery before we hit the Alps next week."
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