Dan Martin battered from Tour de France crash
Having ridden the perfect race thus far Dan Martin has had his first setback at the Tour de France.
The Irish climber hit the deck hard on the descent of the Mont du Chat on today’s stage 9.
And when he gathered himself, body bleeding and kit shredded, he would fall again after he set off in pursuit of his rivals.
But as is his wont, Martin got up again and drilled it to the finish. He limited his losses to 1:15.
He has now fallen from 4th overall some 25 seconds behind the yellow jersey, to 6th at 1:44. The reality is it could have been much worse.
And given his form of late, his mental resilience and his world class recovery rate; this Tour is not over for him.
Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) was 63rd today, some 27:10 off the winner's time. After a day on the attack yesterday he was always going to endure some serious pain today.
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But with his team leader Richie Porte crashing out of the race in the same fall as Dan Martin, the complexion of Roche's Tour is changed utterly.
He seems to be in fantastic form and his team's efforts must now turn to hunting for stage wins.
For Dan Martin, the time lost today was something of a hole blown in the bottom of the boat. But it is a small one that is not insurmountable.
Nobody wants to see any of these top riders crash, but had Dan Martin managed to stay upright today he would be 3rd overall this evening.
Geraint Thomas – the trusted Team Sky wingman for yellow jersey Chris Froome – was 2nd overall this morning but crashed out today.
Coupled with that dramatic turn of events, Richie Porte (BMC Racing) is also out of the race.
He fell coming off the Mont du Chat with Martin on his wheel; the Irishman hitting him and crashing hard.
Porte’s race was over immediately, that much was clear. He remained conscious but he had slid across the width of the road and into a wall of rocks.
To add injury to more injury, Dan Martin and his bike had nowhere to go but over Porte.
There was about 25km remaining at that point and both men were in the select group chasing lone leader Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb).
The Frenchman had been rampant in the early escape and had mopped up enough climbers’ points to take the polka dot jersey.
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But he wanted more and as Porte and Martin crashed together Barguil still had 24 seconds on the group they had been in.
Barguil had been the sole survivor of a huge group of 38 riders that went clear shortly after the start and built a lead of over six minutes.
However, like the peloton behind, the climbs continuously reduced the numbers up front; the 181.5km route from Nantua to Chambery a fascinating war of attraction and bike handling.
Back the road, with about 35km remaining, Froome suffered a mechanical and Aru attacked. It was unclear if his timing was deliberate, but Martin told him to ease back.
And Froome was visibly annoyed when he caught back on.
There was to be no waiting though approximately 10km later when Dan Martin and Richie Porte fell.
Martin got to his feet and onto his bike. But, perhaps over anxious to get back on, he would fall again.
Eventually he caught a group ahead of him and they drilled it into the finish; going up and over and fully committed the whole way.
A mark of how hard the racing had been on the Pont du Chat was the line-up in that group with Dan Martin.
George Bennett (LottoNl-Jumbo) was there along with Mikel Landa (Team Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) and Simon Yates (Orica-Scott).
They did extremely well to limit their losses to 1:15 on the leaders.
But sadly for Martin, that lead group contained precisely those men he would have been looking to put time into today if he is to make the podium in Paris in two weeks.
Froome was there along with Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), the aforementioned Barguil, Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) stage 5 winner Fabio Aru (Astana) and Criterium du Dauphine winner Jakob Fuglsang (Astana).
Bardet would spring from the group and catch Barguil alone before distancing his compatriot, who waited on the chasers.
However, while Bardet desperately wanted the stage and to gain time, he was caught with just over 2km remaining.
And after a day of drama there was more to come; a sprint from the group won in a photo finish by Uran from Barguil.
But, tragically for Barguil, he was told he had won only to make his way to the podium where news he had in fact been 2nd was confirmed.
He had been in tears of joy at the thought he had won the queen stage in the Tour.
And while having it whipped from his arms must have stung badly, he at least had the consolation of the climbers’ jersey.
Stage 9: Nantua - Chambery (181.5 km)
1 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac 5:07:22
2 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
7 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:15
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
10 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
11 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
12 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:32
13 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
14 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
15 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:19
16 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
18 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
19 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
20 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
21 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:50
22 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:17
23 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
24 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:13
25 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
63 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:27:10
General Classification
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 38:26:28
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:18
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:51
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:55
5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:37
6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:44
7 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:02:02
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:13
9 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:03:06
10 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:03:53
11 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:00
12 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:15
13 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:30
14 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:06:18
15 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:06:55
16 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:06:58
17 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:56
18 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:08:46
19 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:10:34
20 Brice Feillu (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Oscaro 0:11:43
21 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 0:14:11
22 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 0:15:23
23 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:18:44
24 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:20:02
25 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott 0:21:06
33 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:29:28
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