Dan Martin had described today's stage 11 at the Tour de France onto Toulouse as a "nervous day" when the race may split in the crosswinds.
As it turned out he needn't have worried as turned into a classic sprint day; an early breakaway going from the gun and the last of being caught at the death, paving the way for a sprint finish.
Victory went to Australian rider Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and he was delighted with his first ever Tour victory.
He won from Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma), Elia Viviani
(Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe).
Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirate) placed 20th on the stage in the same time as Ewan, and he was one of a number of favourites who made sure to be close to the front to avoid any time gaps.
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Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) was 89th today at 1:15 and will look for more breakaway chances in the days ahead.
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Having seen many of his general classification rivals lose 1:40 when they got caught out in the crosswinds of Monday's stage 10, Dan Martin is now ideally placed for his best ever Tour finish.
He is now 9th overall and a top five is well within his grasp. And once he is climbing at his usual standard he may be on course for a top three.
Tomorrow's stage 12 takes the riders into the central Pyrenees, with 209.5km to be raced between Toulouse and Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
There are two cat 1 climbs towards the back end of the race; the Col de Peyresourde and Hourquette d'Ancizan; one after the other before a long decent into the finish.
And while there has been a lot of drama on the Tour already, the big show starts now.
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