Dan Martin keeps overall challenge in play at Tour ahead of three days of torture in Alps

Dan Martin held onto his 10th place over after the Tour de France TT today, but on a hilly course 32nd was a disappointing result.

By Gavin McLoughlin

Ireland’s Dan Martin remains in tenth place on general classification after the stage 17 time trial of the Tour de France today, Wednesday, though he ultimately performed poorly on a hilly course that should have suited him.

The Garmin-Sharp leader completed the 32 kilometre individual time-trial from Embrun to Chorges in a time of 54:55, putting him in 32^nd place on the day, 3:22 behind the time of stage winner and race leader Chris Froome (Sky).

The Irishman will begin tomorrow at 12:50 off the yellow jersey.

Martin’s place in the top ten looked to be in jeopardy as immediate rivals Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Jean-Christophe Péraud (AG2R- La Mondiale) were out-performing him on the day.

But the unfortunate Péraud, who started the stage with a fractured collarbone after taking a tumble checking out the course this morning, crashed again at a treacherous corner near the finish-line and was forced to abandon the race.

The Frenchman’s mishap meant that although Kwiatkowski ultimately leapfrogged Martin in the overall standings, the Irishman’s position on the leader board was unchanged.

His nearest challenger is the Australian Saxo-Tinkoff domestique Michael Rogers, but for the rest of the Tour the biggest threat to Martin’s position in the top 10 will likely come from 12^th placed Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

The Spaniard has climbed very strongly at this race, losing the vast majority of his deficit to Froome as a result of a calamitously-timed puncture on stage 13. Valverde is 2:22 behind Martin and it will be a nail-biting time for Irish cycling fans as the Irishman dukes it out with the Movistar leader over the remainder of the Tour.

With three very important mountain-stages in the next three days, Saxo-Tinkoff's Nicolas Roche played it safe today. He went round the course in 58:46, putting him 150^th on the stage.

Roche’s team leader Alberto Contador was narrowly pipped to the stage victory by Froome, and the Spaniard will need all the help he can get from Roche and the rest of his teammates if he is to overhaul the Briton.

Today’s parcours was punctuated by two second-category ascents, meaning the stage victory was likely to go to one of the big general classification contenders.

The descent of the first climb was twisting and technical, while the descent of the second was lightning-fast. This meant that when a deluge of rain appeared towards the end of the day, those out on course were forced to tiptoe through the corners, with Pierre Rolland (Europcar) looking particularly cautious.

The road had largely dried out by the time Martin took to the course, before another shower made its presence felt with the last of the overall contenders plummeting towards the finish line.

As expected, the battle for stage honours was a duel between Contador and Froome. Contador was two seconds faster than Froome at the first checkpoint, and perhaps the key moment of the contest came as Froome approached the second check.

The Sky leader still looked to be marginally behind Contador’s time, but made the decision to switch from a road bike to his time-trial bike near the summit of the day’s second climb. Contador had decided to remain on a road bike.

The transition was messy, but it appeared Froome got his tactics right. The return of the rain meant the Briton faced the more slippery downhill run to the finish, yet still he managed to cross the line nine seconds ahead of Contador’s time to take his third stage win of this race.

The yellow jersey looks glued to Froome’s back at this point, and barring illness or injury he looks certain to stand on the top step of the podium in Paris.

Since the route of this Tour was announced, tomorrow’s stage has always looked the most special. The peloton will ascend the famed Alpe d’Huez twice, finishing atop the legendary mountain 173 kilometres after departing from the town of Gap.

Froome will begin the day as favourite and it is almost impossible to see anyone beating the Sky leader in a straight showdown on the uphill.

If Martin is to claim a second stage victory of this race, he will need to get away from Froome before the fireworks start amongst the podium contenders.

After a day free of team duties, Roche will again ride in service of Contador as the Spaniard faces up to another likely beating at the hands of the Sky leader.

The Irish duo will be roared up Alpe d’Huez by a throng of Irish fans located on the tenth corner of the legendary ascent, so make sure to keep an eye out for the mass of green, white and orange tomorrow.

@gavmcloughlin