It's unlikely the gaps that emerged between the favourites on the final climb at the Giro today will decide any of the places in the final classification. But when Egan Bernal stepped up to turn the screw in the final stretch of climbing, only the very best could respond.
And Ireland's Dan Martin was among them; the Irishman riding a really strong finale, and doing so very cleverly and with no panic while also overcoming a crash earlier in the stage.
Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) squeezed on the pedals with 1km to go and only three men could live with; Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo).
The other big names still in contention were not too far behind - just 17 seconds to be precise. But it was clear Bernal, Martin, Evenepoel and Ciccone were on a higher level than the other favourites, who finished together 17 seconds later. They included Simon Yates (BikeExchange), Hugh Carthy (EF Education Nippo) and Alexander Vlasov (Astana Premier Tech).
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With a breakaway up the road - but only stage winner Gino Mäder (Bahrain-Victorious) surviving from it - Ineos Grenadiers did most of the riding in the ever-reducing peloton in the last hour or two. Martin's team mate, and race leader, Alessandro De Marchi had been dropped on a descent and lost 24:49 today.
And when the riders hit the final climb and a select group formed, Bernal really took it up in the last 2km of he 15km ascent to the line at Ascoli Piceno-San Giacomo. He first moved with just over 1.5km in a counter attack when his team mate Martinez was caught.
Initially he dragged just Ciccone and Evenepoel with him but the other favourites were just behind and clawed their way back several times. Martin cleverly let Vlasov do the panicking, and close the gaps, for him.
The favourites regrouped a little with 1km to go and Martin attacked only to back off almost instantly. Bernal, who is looking in ominous form, then surged again and Martin made sure he was one of the three that the Colombian dragged clear.
“With the cold, the rain, and the wind, this turned out to be a big test. The last 65-70 km were really difficult,” Dan Martin said after the finish of what was a brilliant stage.
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“On the descent, I was so cold I could barely control my bike. It was a big help for me that the guys did such a good job for me, always keeping me in a good position," Martin said at the stage end.
“Just before we started the final climb, one of the Bora riders crashed right in front me and I couldn’t avoid going down as well. However, I got up quickly, and Paddy [Bevin] did a great job to bring me back to a good position near the front of the group."
Martin continued: “I didn’t really plan to do anything today, I just wanted to stay in the wheels and watch the other guys and that’s basically what I did. I felt pretty good though.
“Usually, these are not really conditions that suit me, so when I have good legs in these conditions, it also shows how good my shape is. This gives me a lot of comfort going forward; and now, we just want to continue this amazing start to the Giro we have had.”
Dan Martin Vs biggest rivals
Just six stages in, but with two very hard weeks to come, some of the riders who were highly fancied when the race began last Saturday are already out of the running. Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) are both out of the race due to crashes.
Martin is now 9th overall some 47 seconds down on new race leader, 22-year-old Hungarian Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), but other fancied riders are now behind the Irishman overall, even though they put time into him in the opening TT.
Simon Yates (BikeExchange), who may yet strongly challenge for the overall win, put 19 seconds into Martin in the test but is now one place and two seconds behind him overall.
Other riders tipped for the top 10 and who are now behind the Irishman overall include: Davide Formolo of UAE Team Emirates (now eight seconds down on Martin); Danny Martínez of Ineos Grenadiers (19 seconds); Marc Soler of Movistar and Romain Bardet of Team DSM (both 27 seconds); Emanuel Buchmann of Bora-hansgrohe (53 seconds); Vincenzo Nibali of Trek Segafredo (56 seconds); Jai Hindley of Team DSM (2:42); João Almeida of Deceuninck-QuickStep (4:02); George Bennett of Jumbo Visma (8:08).
With a pan flat 30.3km TT stage to end the race into
Milan on Sunday two weeks, Dan Martin will probably lose at least one minute,
maybe a lot more, to most of the riders who will be riding flat out for podium
or the top 10. It means he needs time, and a lot of it, on his rivals. But on
the basis of today’s ride, though there is an awfully long way to go, he can be
confident.
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