Dan Martin digs deep but Valverde (36) unstoppable in Spain
Dan Martin fought all the way and has not given up in Catalunya. But Alejandro Valverde was simply unbeatable on the final tough mountain.
Dan Martin has nudged his way into the top 10 in the general classification at the Volta A Catalunya.
The QuickStep rider rode very strongly on the final climb to the summit finish of today’s queen stage.
However, he was just behind the handful of major names in the race, with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) claiming victory and the race lead.
With two stages remaining and all the serious climbing completed, the Spaniard leads Chris Froome (Team Sky) by 21 seconds.
And in third place overall is Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) a further 26 seconds back.
Valverde pulled clear of the fragmenting select group in the closing stages of the La Port summit finish ascent today and took what looked like a comfortable solo win.
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Dan Martin limited his losses well on the 8.4km hors cat mountain with an average gradient of 9 per cent but reaching 20 per cent in sections.
He lost contact with 4km remaining to the top as the attacking in the front group began.
¡Valverde da una exhibición en la etapa reina de la #VoltaCatalunya! Se pone líder por delante de Froome y Contador pic.twitter.com/6niADs3aMc
— COPEdaleando (@Copedaleando) March 24, 2017
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Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) also lost contact with the leaders on the climb and has slipped to 6th overall at 1:18.
The order of the top three in the general standings is the same as how they finished today; Valverde winning from Froome and Contador, both 13 seconds back.
Another of Movistar’s men Marc Soler was 4th on the sage 25 seconds down. Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) was 5th at 32 seconds and Dan Martin (Quickstep) next some 46 seconds down.
One young rider who put in a huge ride was 22-year-old Briton Hugh Carthy; the Cannondale-Drapac man finishing 8th 1:04 down on the winner.
Martin’s result brings him from 14th overall this morning to 9th going into the weekend’s final stages.
He trails Valverde by 2:13 and is 1:26 off Contador in the final podium spot.
The fact Valverde (36) leads the race is remarkable considering he has pegged back the one minute penalty imposed on his team for pushing each other in the stage 2 TTT.
The closing kilometres
When the really elite selection was made up front in the closing kilometres, Dan Martin faltered.
Valverde, Contador, Froome, Soler and Yates proved strongest, pulling clear after attacks from Contador and Valverde.
Another attack, this time from Soler, would distance Yates and even Froome struggled.
But the Tour champion dug in and clawed his way back to Contador and Valverde inside the final 2km as Soler’s challenge fell away.
And from the big three out front it was Valverde who would put in the attack inside the final kilometre that won the race.
He jettisoned Froome and the Contador though they would finish together 13 seconds behind the victor.
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