Dan Martin extended his hold on the Volta a Catalunya lead by taking a three-second time bonus today
Dan Martin goes into tomorrow’s final stage of the Volta a Catalunya with a 17-second lead over Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) after claiming a three-second bonus at one of the intermediate sprints along the route of today’s penultimate stage.
Martin was first over the line at the sprint point at the 30km mark today to take the bonus, which he added to a one second bonus secured yesterday for third in one of the sprints. He also gained another vital three seconds on most of his rivals at the finish yesterday when he claimed 9th in the bunch sprint at the end of the stage; a gallop in which a three second time split occurred in the bunch just behind the Irishman.
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It means if Rodriguez is going to take the leader’s jersey and win the race on final stage tomorrow – which is lumpy and should split the field – he needs to really take the race to Martin.
The Irishman made his big gains when he won the queen stage with a fantastic lone ride at the head of the race up the final climb on Thursday. And his and his team’s defence of the lead has been absolutely flawless thus far.
His Garmin-Sharp squad has fantastic strength in depth, with last year’s Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal having been more than willing to bury himself in the service of the Irishman. That selfless work by the Canadian was particularly evident on Thursday, when he drove the large breakaway from which Martin launched his stage-winning move and took the leader’s jersey.
However, other team mates such as Tom Danielson, who is just back from a doping ban related to the Lance Armstrong affair, have also been very strong and the Garmin-Sharp team also leads the team classification in the race.
Martin and his team will need to be on their toes tomorrow to keep Rodriguez and indeed the three others within one minute of the lead at bay. The race finishes on the Montjuic circuit in Barcelona, where Rodriquez and Philippe Gilbert (BMC) took advantage of the lumpy roads on the circuit during last year’s Vuelta to break free.
On that occasion the riders made one passage over the testing circuit but tomorrow there will be eight laps and time bonuses which means Martin must be at his very best to hold off the quality just behind him.
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Today, the penultimate stage came down to a sprint finish in which Simon Gerrans (ORICA-GreenEDGE) proved quickest to the line to take the stage.
Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) was 29th today, coming home five seconds down after a split appeared in the bunch after the front section containing many of the main favourites, including Martin and Rodriguez, crossed the line.
Stage 6: Almacelles - Valls 178.7km
1. Simon GERRANS, Orica-GreenEdge, 3:55:46
2. Gianni MEERSMAN, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, s.t.
3. Samuel DUMOULIN, Ag2r La Mondiale, s.t.
4. Daniele RATTO, Cannondale, s.t.
5. Danilo WYSS, BMC Racing, s.t.
6. Julien SIMON, Sojasun, s.t.
7. Daniel MORENO FERNANDEZ, Katusha, s.t.
8. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Katusha, s.t.
9. Jakob FUGLSANG, Astana, s.t.
10. Rigoberto URAN URAN, Sky, s.t.
13. Daniel MARTIN, Garmin-Sharp, s.t.
29. Nicolas ROCHE, Saxo-Tinkoff, at 0:05
General Classification
1. Daniel MARTIN, Garmin-Sharp, 26:16:22
2. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Katusha, at 0:17
3. Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS, Movistar, at 0:45
4. Bradley WIGGINS, Sky, at 0:54
5. Michele SCARPONI, Lampre-Merida, at 0:55
6. Robert GESINK, Blanco, at 1:07
7. Przemyslaw NIEMIEC, Lampre-Merida, at 1:18
8. Thibaut PINOT, FDJ, at 1:26
9. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK, Lotto-Belisol, at 1:28
10. Peter STETINA, Garmin-Sharp, at 1:30
55. Nicolas ROCHE, Saxo-Tinkoff, at 19:00
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