Dan Martin must now attack, Nicolas Roche shows Dauphiné form
After the Critérium du Dauphiné TT stage, Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin now have key parts to play.
Irish riders Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche look set to be in the thick of the action Critérium du Dauphiné following today’s stage 4 TT.
Martin posted a decent ride but, as expected against the watch, he lost time to all of his real rivals in the general classification.
It means if he is to replicate his podium finish of last year he must now go on the attack.
The QuickStep rider finished in 26th place in the 23.5km TT from La Tour-du-Pin to Bourgoin-Jallieu.
He relinquished a significant, though not insurmountable, 1:08 to stage winner Richie Porte.
The BMC Racing team leader put in a sensational ride today. He beat world TT champion Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) by 12 seconds.
Advertisement
And in 3rd place was Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), some 24 seconds down in Porte.
Aside from the really impressive nature of Porte’s win, the other big news of the day was the time lost by Chris Froome (Team Sky).
Having won the race overall last year, he was 8th today, some 38 seconds down on Porte and 13 down on Valverde.
It was a big blow for the battle for yellow this week and a symbolic defeat – especially to Valverde – in the longer range fight to win the Tour de France next year.
Strong riding by Nicolas Roche
Related News
One man who rode a very strong test today was Irish TT champion Roche.
In this race to ride for team mate Porte and so not expected to ride flat out today, Roche was 20th on the stage some 1:04.
And that was enough to place him 15th overall, 1:31 down. Dan Martin is now 18th overall, 1:45 down.
The man who has led the race since winning stage 1, Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) was 9th today, 42 seconds down on Porte.
However, that was enough to retain the yellow jersey. He now leads Porte by 27 seconds, with Valverde another 24 seconds back.
Porte and Valverde will take some beating this week.
The final weekend is a brutal one; an Alpe d’Huez finish on Saturday and another summit finish on Sunday’s 115km stage to Plateau de Solaison.
Dan Martin is only 54 seconds off the podium and give his characteristic aggression we can definitely expect to see him light it up before the race is done.
A Roche will be called into action for Porte, meaning both riders should be to the fore.
Tomorrow’s stage 5 takes the rides 175km from La Tour-de-Salvagny to Mâcon.
And while the route is mainly flat, there are plenty of riders with time to make up so things could get interesting.
Stage 4: La Tour-du-Pin to Bourgoin-Jallieu (23.5km TT)
1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:28:07
2 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:12
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:24
4 Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:28
5 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:00:32
6 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35
8 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:37
9 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:42
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:45
11 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:48
12 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:50
13 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott 0:00:55
14 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:59
15 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:00
16 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
17 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
18 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:01:03
19 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
20 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:01:04
21 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:01:09
22 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:01:10
23 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:12
24 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
25 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:01:14
26 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:18
General Classification
1 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 13:05:53
2 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:27
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:51
4 Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:55
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:02
6 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:04
7 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:12
8 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:15
9 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:17
10 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:22
11 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:24
12 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:27
13 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:01:30
14 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
15 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:01:31
16 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:01:37
17 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:45
19 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
20 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:46
21 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:49
22 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:50
23 Rubén Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:00
24 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal 0:02:05
25 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:02:09
Topics
