Philip Deignan delivered his best performance of the season on stage two of the Volta A Pais Vasco (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
Philip Deignan delivered his best performance of the season on Tuesday afternoon on stage two of the Volta A Pais Vasco as Dan Martin’s general classification hopes took a hit.
Deignan was instrumental in setting up teammate Mikel Landa for a marvellous victory, towing the peloton on the run-in to the final climb of the day.
Landa obliged with a morale-boosting win that catapulted him into the race lead, albeit by just one second from LottoNL-Jumbo powerhouse Wilco Kelderman.
After Katusha did much of the chasing in the latter half of the race in a bid to set up their man Joaquim Rodriguez, Team Sky took over in the final 10 kilometres.
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World time-trial champion Vasil Kiryienka set a blistering pace while Lars Petter Nordhaug and Deignan also put in some big turns on the front of the bunch.
Landa and co-leader Sergio Henao were sniffing around for the perfect moment to attack and when Landa eventually went, only the aforementioned Kelderman responded.
Behind, Dan Martin was in some good company with the likes of Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Albert Contador (Tinkoff), Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and a host of others.
But inside the final kilometre he slipped back.
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He battled as best he could to limit his losses as Landa skipped away from Kelderman for the win.
And the surge from the chasers caused Martin to be further distanced and lose some valuable seconds.
In all, he lost 43 to Landa and dropped from seventh overall to 24th, with four stages still to go.
Martin has a habit of bouncing back the day after setbacks and he’ll definitely look to impose himself as soon as tomorrow.
The stage is somewhat easier with five categorised climbs though nothing harder than a cat 2.
The last climb comes nine kilometres before the finish and with just a non-technical descent and a short flat section before the line, an attack can go all the way to the line.
The 193-kilometre stage takes the riders from Vitoria Gasteiz to Lesaka and the forecast is good in contrast to today.
Martin’s teammates did a sterling job to try and set him up today so the Irishman will be keen to repay their faith in him with a performance before the week is out.
Stage 2: Markina-Xemein to Garrastatxu, 174km
1 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
2 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) LottoNl-Jumbo @1sec
3 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky @5secs
4 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing @9secs
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff @11secs
6 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ @13secs
7 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida @15secs
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar @s/t
9 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo @ s/t
10 Sebastian Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ at same time @ s/t
25 Dan Martin (IRL) Etixx-QuickStep @43secs
113 Philip Deignan (IRL) Team Sky @7’42”
General Classification
1 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky in 8:37:38
2 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo @1sec
3 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky @5secs
4 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing @9secs
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff @11secs
6 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ a@13secs
7 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida @15secs
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar @s/t
9 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo @s/t
10 Sebastian Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ @s/t
24 Dan Martin (IRL) Etixx-QuickStep @43secs
94 Philip Deignan (IRL) Team Sky @12’49”
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