Dan Martin grabs queen stage glory on Beijing summit finish

Dan Martin has blasted to summit victory in China today, showing that once he is in this kind of form he is very hard to beat.

By Brian Canty

Dan Martin has won the queen stage of the Tour of Beijing in stunning fashion today, but has fallen short of taking the race lead from Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team).

The Garmin-SHARP man attacked inside the final two kilometres on the climb to the summit finish at Mentougou Miaofeng and managed to distance his rivals.

Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) finished second and race leader Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) hung on for third.

Martin crossed the line two seconds ahead of the three-man Gilbert group - with Rui Costa of Lampre Merida in fourth.

But the Irishman needed three more seconds to take the race lead. And with just tomorrow’s pan-flat 117 kilometre final stage to come, it looks as if the Belgian will hold on.

It will be a bitter pill to swallow for the recently-crowned Tour of Lombardy winner because he was also second here last year as well, despite arguably being the strongest rider.

Today, Martin started the day 11 seconds down on GC, so he knew he needed to come out fighting. And after doing that with some style, he picked up a 10 second bonus for his win.

However, Gilbert was able to hold the jersey courtesy of the four-second bonus he got for third.

Had he slipped out of that three-man chase group, it’s likely he’d have been at least a further seven seconds back in the next group and Martin would now be the leader. But the 28-year-old Irishman was still happy with his day.

“I’m just happy to win the stage — the GC would have been a bonus,” said Martin.

“The guys rode incredible all day. All week they’ve been riding incredible.

"It’s unfortunate to miss the GC and obviously anything can happen tomorrow but other than bad luck, I think Philippe’s got the GC. I’m still happy with second place."

Gilbert, right, hung on very well today to retain his overall lead with just one stage remaining.

The final climb had been ignited by the men in blue, with Martin’s teammate Ryder Hesjedal jumping clear halfway up the 12.6 kilometre ascent to the finish line.

The plan worked to perfection as it allowed Martin conserve his energy behind while others were forced into a frantic chase, ramping up the pace and thinning out that front group considerably.

Though Hesjedal was reeled in after ferocious work from Team Sky’s Dario Cataldo, BMC then took up the driving at the front to discourage any more accelerations.

Samuel Sanchez went to the front for them from around five kilometres out and drilled a furious tempo, with Gilbert neatly tucked in fifth wheel and Martin sitting comfortably around two or three riders from the front.

But Martin made his move with around one kilometre to go – darting clear of the group with only Chaves for company.

Initially, Martin pulled out a good gap which suggested he was riding into the race lead. But with Chaves unable to come around him, it was an all-out effort from Martin on a climb that was perhaps not hard enough for him.

Initial reports suggested the Irishman had done enough to take the lead when he crossed the line and Gilbert’s reaction was less than celebratory until it was confirmed that he had clung on by the skin of his teeth.

The only other Irishman in the race, Philip Deignan (Team Sky) had another excellent ride himself, crossing the line in 17^th place at 25 seconds which was enough to see him move up to 19^th overall at 54 seconds.

Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders from Tiananmen Square to the Bird’s Nest Plaza in Beijing, after which Martin will bring his season to a close at the Japan Cup next weekend, a race he won in 2010.