Dan Martin attacked going over the top of the final climb on Tour de France stage 10. He would place 7th. But up ahead and out on his own, Julian Alaphilippe claimed the stage.
Dan Martin has put in a confident display on the first big climbs of the Tour de France. His ride on Tuesday’s stage 10 netted him 7th place.
And while he gained no time on his general classification rivals, he has nudged up the standings as some of those ahead of him fell by the wayside.
The stage saw the early breakaway succeed, with the bunch in subdued mode for most of the day.
The 158.5km stage from Annecy to Le Grand-Bornand featured five categorised climbs.
And while three of them were cat 1 and another a HC, the sting was taken out of the racing by the lack of a summit finish.
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Indeed the final climb, the cat 1 Col de Colombiere, was crested 14.5km from the finish.
The stage produced some great racing up front from the escape, which featured yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and eventual stage winner Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep).
But behind in the peloton Team Sky rode tempo for much of the day, though the peloton split to pieces in the latter stages.
Just 15 men were in the favourites group by the finish; sprinting for 7th place as six breakaway riders survived.
On the final climb of the day Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) stretched his legs.
Top down: Froome gets a wheel after a puncture. Van Avermaet had a great day up the road. The peloton hits the gravel.
The Irish rider attacked about 400 metres from the top. And while the Team Sky-led peloton did not panic in reaction, the pace increased.
As a result, a large number of riders began slipping off the back. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First Drapac) was distanced and he would lose a lot of time.
Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) also briefly drifted off the back but got back on.
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Dan Martin rode over the top of the climb alone just seconds clear of the peloton but was caught on the descent.
Up front Alaphilippe had taken flight from the breakaway before reaching the final climb and he would never be caught.
The Frenchman put in an epic effort out front, powering across the gravel roads and up the final climb towards his first Tour victory.
And having mopped up a huge amount of climbing points he also has the polka dot jersey.
In the end he would win by 1:34 from Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), with Rein Taaramäe (Direct Energie) 3rd another six seconds back.
Then came Van Avermaet some 1:44 behind the winner; with Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) for company.
And 40 seconds later the last of the breakaway survivors, Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie), would cross the line for 6th.
Ireland’s Martin then brought in the favourites group, taking 7th place at 3:23.
The result meant Van Avermaet has not only held the race lead but extended his advantage in yellow.
The Belgian now has 2:22 on Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), with Valverde 3rd overall at 3:10.
Martin moves up seven places to 17th – some 5:01 down on Van Avermaet.
Tomorrow’s stage 11 should be very interesting. It takes the riders just 108.5km from Albertville to La Rosière Espace San Bernardo.
The riders first face the Montée de Bisanne; a 12.4km HC climb with an average gradient of 8.2 per cent. It begins just 6km into the stage.
The Col du Pré - some 12.6km at 7.7 per cent - is next. It is followed immediately by the Cormet de Roselend; some 5.7km at 6.5 per cent.
There is very little descending between the two climbs, which should make it really hard.
And to finish, on the first proper summit finish of this Tour; the riders climb La Rosière. It is 17.6km at 5.8 per cent.
The short stage distance and sheer volume of hard climbing should make for a great spectacle.
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