Double blow for Dan Martin at Dauphiné after "hectic" stage
Arnaud Demare won the bunch sprint but Dan Martin's team suffered some blows along the way.
Dan Martin (Quickstep) and Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) have both finished in the main field on stage 2 of Critérium du Dauphiné (2.UWT) this afternoon.
Martin’s team would have liked a less dramatic day as Martin Velits was forced to abandon due to illness and Petr Vakoč crashed in the final 30km.
And having finished 3rd overall last year and hoping for another big ride this week, illness and crashes in the team and the kind of events Martin can do without.
Strength in depth in the team will likely come more into play towards the back end of the week when the racing is much harder.
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However, the Irish climber said he was looking forward to the action to come despite the blows to the team.
"It was pretty hectic out there once the chase was on, but I had the guys around me,” he said.
“(They) did a great job protecting me and making sure I was always in the upper part of the peloton in case something happened.
“I feel good and I hope I will carry this form into the mountains, at the end of the week"
Today's 171km stage into Arlanc featured four minor categorised climbs. But with 70km remaining after the final climb it always looking set for a bunch sprint.
And so it came to pass, after the early escape had been scooped up.
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Impressive stage 1 winner De Gendt in the yellow jersey on stage 2 of Critérium du Dauphiné.
In that breakaway were: Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Nathan Brown (Cannondale-Drapac), Mickaël Delage (FDJ) and Romain Combaud (Delko Marseille Provence KTM).
Delage decided to sit up and wait for the peloton, sensing the breakaway was doomed.
However, the escaped pressed on and with 70km remaining Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko bridged the gap alone.
While the breakaway got over four minutes at one point, they were no match for the sprinters’ teams leading the chase.
Breakaway all caught at Critérium du Dauphiné
And though Lutsenko attacked his fellow escapees in the hunt for a solo win he was reeled in paving the way for the bunch sprint.
It was Arnaud Demare (FDJ) who took victory on the line from Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).
The solo victor on the opening stage, Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) retained his leader's jersey. Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders 184km from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins.
In a similar pattern as today, the route features four minor climbs but the last one is peaked with 40km remaining.
It looks like s stage for the sprinters again before Wednesday’s 23.5km TT.
Stage 2: Saint-Chamond – Arlanc (171km)
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 4:13:53
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
4 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
5 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
7 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
8 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
9 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
11 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
12 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
13 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
14 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
15 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
53 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
67 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors same time
General Classification
1 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 8:30:47
2 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:48
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
4 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:07
5 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:09
7 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
8 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
9 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
10 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
12 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
13 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
14 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
15 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
28 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
32 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors same time
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