The sharper effort of the shortened Mont Ventoux climb was not to Dan Martin's liking, but he's come out swinging.
After his time loss on the shortened Mont Ventoux stage 12 at the Tour de France yesterday, Dan Martin has come out swinging despite falling from 3rd overall to 9th.
He is now still only 1:56 off race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) and is exactly one minute down on Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) who has replaced the Irishman in 3rd.
Martin lost contact about halfway up the final climb, an attack by Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and general pace setting by Team Sky ramping up the pressure and sending the Etixx-QuickStep man out the back.
Ironically, while Martin was dropped on the climb he implied the ascent being shortened by 5km – due to gale force winds higher up the mountain – did not suit him; the shorter sharper effort not to his liking.
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But having been in great form on the race since the start and as the race goes into TT day, he feels there is more to come.
"I felt good all day and the guys did a great job,” he said of his team, which could be seen pulling on the front on his behalf not long before he would get into difficulty and then fight bravely to limit his losses.
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“Everybody was fully committed. I was good, but not good enough, and I must say I am gutted for losing some time.
“I lost a wheel when Sky decided to up the tempo, but I continued to ride hard, even if this meant going into the red.
“The Tour de France is not over, I'm not too far behind and I vow to fight.
"I'm the kind of rider who likes more a mountainous day than a big explosion effort, and fortunately such stages are yet to come."
His team mate Iljo Keisse, who spent most of the stage in the breakaway, said he did all he could for Martin; opting to stay close to him when the others from the team still in the reduced peloton were pulling on the front in the closing stages.
"When the team began pulling in the pack I stayed a little bit behind and on the climb I stopped and waited for Dan,” he explained.
“When he joined me, I went full gas for around 1.5 kilometers, until I exploded. It was a hard day, but I am happy I could still do something for him."
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