Dan Martin may have performed well below par on the climbs at Volta a Catalunya in recent days but he showed real grit today when going on the attack on stage 5.
In the end the Israel Start-Up Nation had to settle for 5th on the day after missing the key splits when the very large front group fractured in the closing stages of the 201km race from La Pobla de Segur to Manresa.
And having endured a tough time on recent days, when he lost minutes, after being ill earlier this month, Martin will be happy he has gotten himself somewhat back on track with a much more familiar ride from him today.
The stage was won by Lennard Kämna, the Bora-hansgrohe rider who has been one of the main animators of the race. The 24-year-old German finished solo, some 39 seconds up on Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Nippo).
Advertisement
Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was 3rd at 42 seconds and then just two seconds later the remains of the breakaway sprinted it out for 4th on the stage; Dion Smith (Team BikeExchange) taking that placing from Dan Martin in 5th.
In an usual stage today a large group featuring just over 40 riders went up the road and the Ineos Grenadiers team of race leader Adam Yates seemed content to let the group go and ride to ensure the gap did not get too big.
Related News
Of those up front, just 20 survived until the finish, by which time the lead group had split up and formed into a number of small groups and individual riders scattered two minutes between winner Kämna and the peloton on the line.
The front group formed just after the Coll de Comiols, with almost 160km to race, but it wasn't until the final climb of the day, the Port de Montserrat, that the leaders broke up, with the strongest of them hunting down Rémi Cavagna.
The Deceuninck-QuickStep had put in a long-range solo attack and while he still led at the way the top of the Port de Montserrat, another short uncategorised climb followed before the 20km to the finish line, almost all descending.
Dan Martin was at the front of the race as that sweep down into the finish began as he proved one of the strongest climbers in what had started out such a large front group. However, in the attacking that characterised the finale it was Kämna who managed to forge clear, with 12km to go, for a great win.
Martin effectively got stranded back the road and had to settle for 5th on the day, but with his pride restored. The bunch finished just 1:59 down having started the final climb over four minutes in arrears, meaning Yates held the race lead from team mates Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas by 45 and 49 seconds respectively.
Topics
