Dan Martin has said while he gained time on some of his
Tour de France general classification rivals yesterday, tomorrow’s stage 11 may
also split in the crosswinds.
But he believed the first 10 days to today’s rest day had
gone well. And he was pleased to have emerged from a day of full-on racing into
Albi yesterday.
The front group he finished in numbered just 28 riders
and a clutch of his rivals for the top five overall or even a podium placing
lost 1:40.
“Even with 90 kilometres to go, I think that was the
first time EF (Education First) made their first attack in the crosswinds,” he
explained.
“And that made everybody nervous. It was a constant fight
for a position. You just had to stay concentrated at all times.”
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US WorldTour team EF Education First made the first moves. However, they were caught out badly when the race really split later in the stage as Rigoberto Uran lost 1:40.
Later in the stage teams like Deceuninck-QuickStep, Team
Ineos and Bora-hansgrohe drove the pace in the crosswinds.
And when they realised many of the favourites, including
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ), had missed the split, Team Ineos in particular
hammered out a relentless pace.
“I kept focus and stayed in the top 20 all the time,” Dan
Martin explained. “It's hard mentally but obviously it paid off.”
He added yesterday’s stage was a very challenging one,
even when the riders were still a long way from the finish in Albi.
“The last 50km; (the speed) was always around 55 or 60 kilometers per hour,” he said, adding while he rode well there was an element of luck involved for riders when any race splits.
Yesterday he gained 1:40 on Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Uran. And he took 2:09 out of Mikel Landa (Movistar).
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Asked how he assessed his rivals’ form, Martin said: “It's
really hard to know at the moment. The biggest effect that this first 10 days
have had is cumulative fatigue.
“You don't know what affect it’s had on your rivals. Some
guys will have coped with this first week or 10 days better than others.
“And you only know that when you hit the first mountains
next week, and even into that last week; that build-up of tiredness.
“Looking back on the first 10 days now we've done about
50 hours on the bike. That's a lot.
“I don't think I've done a Tour de France with the first rest day after that amount of time,” said the Irishman, now 9th overall.
Dan Martin also believed the race may split again in the
crosswinds, adding he was not out of the woods yet in terms of having to
navigate the type of racing he is less suited to.
“We've got one more nervous day after the rest day into Toulouse.
We'll just take it day by day and get through that stage,” he said of tomorrow’s
stage.
“And then the real race starts and normally the Pyrenees
is where I've done well before. So I'll hope to enjoy the race a bit more; I
think that's the word.”
Martin also believed Geraint Thomas was in great form,
citing his comeback from the crash on Saturday’s stage 8 as the road kicked up
in the latter section of the race.
“Honestly, the way he came back after that crash on the
climb; I didn't expect him to come back that fast,” he said.
“So he showed really good form. It will be interesting to
see how much time he takes in the TT. Everybody is expecting him to put time
into the climbers in the TT.
“Then Geraint will maybe turn to more of a defensive
tactic. And the climbers will try and have to get some time.
“It promises to be a really aggressive race, especially
now you've got even more climbers further back on GC, and having to take time.”
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