Dan Martin is up to 7th in the Tour de Suisse and is new sole team leader after Ryder Hesjedal crashed out. Nicolas Roche also climbed well today, putting the field under pressure and moving up the general standings.
Gavin McLoughlin
Dan Martin lifted himself into 7th place on general classification amidst foul weather conditions on Stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse today, Monday. The Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner crossed the line in an elite group that finished 46 seconds behind stage victor Peter Sagan (Cannondale).
The result puts Martin 1:23 behind new race-leader Mathias Frank (BMC). With Martin’s Garmin-Sharp teammate Ryder Hesjedal dogged by misfortune in crashing out of the race, the Irishman will now be the sole torch-bearer as far as his team’s general classification ambitions are concerned.
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A selfless Nicolas Roche performed sterling service in support of his teammate Roman Kreuziger, sacrificing his strength and jettisoning a slew of riders with a muscular effort on the lower slopes of the day’s final climb. Roche eventually finished the day in the third group on the road, 1:47 behind Sagan. This elevates the Saxo-Tinkoff rider into 20th place overall, 2:44 behind Frank.
Today’s course was tantalising on paper, with the business-end consisting of a narrow first-category climb that peaked with 21 kilometres remaining, followed by a technical descent to the finish-line in Meiringen.
The afternoon’s initial drama came 30 kilometres after the race rolled away from the start-line in Montreux. A significant split in the peloton forced those caught behind to chase furiously, and after much toil the race regrouped at the foot of the day’s first categorised climb.
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That third-category ascent would serve as a springboard for a strong breakaway group including general classification danger man Wilco Kelderman (Blanco Pro Cycling), the wily Swiss climber Michael Albasini (Orica-Green Edge) and world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC).
But a wary peloton kept the group on a short leash all day, with Roche’s Saxo-Tinkoff squad particularly prominent in chase. As the riders reached the beginning of the crucial climb, Roche assumed responsibility for the pace-setting in service of Kreuziger, and the Irishman’s brisk pace made many suffer.
When BMC’s Tejay van Garderen took control, the group of favourites was shattered to pieces, with race-leader Cameron Meyer summarily ejected out the back. Roche was spent and no longer able to follow, but Dan Martin was one of about 20 riders able to match van Garderen’s tempo. In a remarkable display of sheer strength and versatility, also present in the group was the Slovak speed-merchant Peter Sagan.
The strong-looking Van Garderen led the peloton up and up into the fog that encircled the top of the mountain, before an injection of pace from Roche’s teammate Kreuziger ratcheted up the pressure as the riders commenced a very technical descent made all the more treacherous by the wet weather conditions.
Kreuziger, Sagan, Mathias Frank (BMC), and last year’s overall winner Rui Costa (Movistar) were the quickest descenders and soon rode away as a fearless quartet. Despite their best efforts, Martin’s group never looked like catching the new leaders, and there were no surprises when the ferociously talented Sagan toyed with and eventually crushed his rivals in the dash to the finish-line.
Though both were absent from the group that ultimately contested the stage victory, it was a favourable day for the Irish duo, with both men moving in the right direction on general classification. Let’s hope that trend continues for the remainder of the race, starting with tomorrow’s 161-kilometre Stage 4 from Innertkirchen to Buochs.
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