Dan Martin has outlined his reasoning for attacking at the top of the final climb of the day on stage 10 of the Tour de France.
Irish climber and Tour de France general classification contender Dan Martin has said he attacked on today’s stage 10 at the Tour de France to put others in the red.
The UAE Team Emirates man explained the team decided before the stage that anyone at the back or slightly off the back of the group on the final climb of the day could lose significant time.
And so with a breakaway up the road and just a few hundred metres to the top of the Col de la Colombiere, Martin had a dig.
He was attacking into a headwind, and with Team Sky pulling along what was left of the peloton. Martin was quickly recaptured, article continues below video.
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However, by the time the race reached the finish 14.5km later, there were just 15 men in his group.
He brought them home for 7th place as six riders from the early escape were never caught.
“It was a block head wind, every bone in my body said don’t attack,” he said of his surge forward.
“But I knew if guys were five or ten seconds off the back, by the time we reach the bottom it could be one minute.
“For the sake of doing a little sprint, making it hard; anybody put in the red could have been dropped.”
And he said while it was good to get the first climbs out of the way, the next two days were much harder summit finishes; La Rosière and Alpe d’Huez.
“It’s always a bit nervous after the rest day. I’m pretty happy with that,” he said of his ride today.
He also believed the fact today is followed by such hard stages had tempered the aggression from the big guns.
“That’s what happens when you get three hard days in a row. The next two days are going to be brutal.
“Also, this was the stage after the rest day. But the wearing-down process has begun. There’s going to be a lot more guys attacking tomorrow.”
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