Dan Martin has abandoned Paris Nice on the penultimate, and queen, stage today. He had finished 3rd overall in 2017 but endured a more testing time this year.
Dan Martin abandons Paris-Nice on queen stage
Irish rider Dan Martin has followed compatriot Sam Bennett in abandoning Paris-Nice.
Bennett fell ill earlier in the week and pulled out. And Martin has climbed off midstage today.
With a day in the wet over very testing terrain awaiting the riders, Martin was feeling unwell before the stage even started.
And while he preserved in the hope he may be able to survive and recover, that was not to be.
He was dropped out the back of the peloton on the cat 1 La Côte de la Sainte Baume, which was peaked just before the 85km mark.
And a little further down the course the decision was made to climb off and abandon.
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His team mate, and European champion, Alexander Kristoff, also left the race. They have both been claimed by illness that hit their UAE Team Emirates squad.
Martin also suffered rotten luck yesterday. He broke a wheel descending the second last climb. He needed to stop and get assistance.
As a result, he was forced into a chase but had not time to get back on. Furthermore, he would lose more than nine minutes; his general classification bid over.
Several abandons in Paris-Nice
Dan Martin departing the race today is a major turnaround on his ride of 12 months ago.
Back then he seemed to get better as the race progressed. Indeed, he went on the attack on the final weekend of racing.
And that was enough to move him on the third step on the final general classification podium.
Today's stage claimed a number of high profile names as well as Dan Martin and Kristoff.
Also out of the race came Ian Boswell (Katusha-Alpecin), Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana) and stage winner and former yellow jersey Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ).
More to follow.
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