Dan Martin has bridged a gap for Ireland back to Sean Kelly on the 1989 Tour de France. Tomorrow will be the first time in 29 years that an Irish rider will be involved in a Tour final podium presentation in Paris.
Dan Martin bridges gap to Sean Kelly on 1989 Tour
The best three riders in the Tour de France dominated the final TT today. But Dan Martin has picked up a last minute place on the podium in Paris.
The Irish rider has been voted the most aggressive rider overall of the 2018 Tour.
A total of eight riders were nominated, with the winner chosen by public and jury vote. And Dan Martin emerged on top.
It means the UAE Team Emirates rider will be part of the podium presentations in Paris tomorrow evening.
That will be the first time since 1989 that an Irish rider has featured in the podium presentations at the finish.
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Sean Kelly took the last of his four Tour de France points classification wins in 1989.
And here comes the Super Combative of @LeTour ! ?
Et voici le super combatif du Tour ! ?
? @DanMartin86 #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/hGCoYhPn9h— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 28, 2018
It’s a fantastic reward for Martin who finishes this Tour in 8th overall. That’s just two places off his best of last year.
However, he also took a stage win this time around, with a fantastic kick up Mur de Bretagne.
Today in the 31km undulating TT between Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle to Espelette, Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) was best.
He claimed the victory in the world champion’s rainbow bands by just one second from Chris Froome (Team Sky).
Yellow jersey Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was 3rd, some 14 seconds off the winner.
However, he crossed the line with his arms raised in victory in the knowledge he had sealed the overall.
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And while Froome just missed out on a stage win, he did enough to get back on the final podium.
Yesterday Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) won the stage solo by 19 seconds from a group of favourites.
And that was enough to jump into 3rd overall, pushing Froome into 4th. However, while Froome had a great day today, Roglic under-performed.
Dumoulin, Froome, Thomas; best on the day and best of the Tour.
Today Roglic placed 8th and lost 1:12 to Dumoulin. That put Froome back in 3rd overall. Dan Martin endured a difficult test today; placing 34th at 2:40.
However, with the riders around him in the general standings also not testers of note, his position in the overall remained the same, as expected.
But he comes out of his Tour with a stage win and another top 10 overall; the third of his career.
He has also endured himself to fans all over the world with the way he rode.
And at 31 years he has a few more years left to aim for that top three placing on the Tour.
Martin will also ride the Vuelta and will be fancied there later in the season. And he will also like the look of the World Championships and Il Lombardia, which he has won before.
With just tomorrow’s procession and likely sprint into Paris remaining, Thomas holds an unassailable lead.
He is in yellow by 1:51 from Dumoulin; a man delighted with his stage win today and who said he achieved more at the Tour than he expected.
Froome is next some 2:24 down on Thomas. And Roglic is 4th at 3:22. There is a big gap after those; Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) in 5th at 6:08. Martin is 9:05 down in 8th.
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