Nicolas Roche puts the pressure on up the climb to the finish at La Alpujarra, apparently not confined by the need to wait for Chris Froome (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche both survived the intense heat, the gruelling terrain and a flurry of late attacks to preserve third and fourth places overall, respectively, at the Vuelta A Espana on Friday.
The seventh stage of the race took the riders 190 kilometres from Jodar to the category one summit finish of La Alpujarra.
The Irish pair were 11th and 10th across the line in a select group containing most of the big-name general classification contenders.
One man conspicuous by his absence, however, was reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome.
He conceded 30 seconds to the group of Martin and Roche - with neither Mikel Nieve nor Roche required to wait for him.
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Dan Martin was confirmed as an Etixx-QuickStep rider while racing stage 7 of the Vuelta but he looks to have one massive Grand Tour performance left as a Cannondale-Garmin man. Above, tracked by Rafal Majka on the climb up to the finish today (Photo: Sirotti)
The Team Sky man dropped to 12th overall and should his form not pick up in the coming days it’s possible the Team Sky leadership role will pass to the shoulders of the flying Roche.
The Irish man is still 36 seconds off the race lead in fourth, while Martin is the next-best overall, some 33 seconds down on red jersey wearer Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE).
Chaves crossed the line in sixth while Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin), who started the day second, remains there tonight after another gutsy display.
Dutchman Bert-Jan Lindeman took the biggest victory of his career after riding in a five-man break, also including Carlos Quintero (Colombia), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) and Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida) from the 12 kilometre mark.
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Team Sky won't panic yet about Chris Froome's below par performance. Stage 9 on Sunday should indicate if his losing time today was a once off or the first signs of illness or loss of form (Photo: Sirotti)
Lindeman attacked in the final kilometres of the stage and crossed the summit finish line with nine seconds to spare over Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida).
Fabio Aru (Astana) escaped from the reduced front group late on to take third, though that was due in part to a motorbike marshal somehow managing to take out Jerome Cousin (Team Europcar).
Saturday’s stage takes the riders 182 kilometres to Murcia and is a comparatively easier day than today, with just two category three climbs to negotiate in the latter quarter of the race.
A bunch sprint is the expected outcome there and would come as a welcome relief to the riders ahead of Sunday’s summit finish which features solid climbing for the final four kilometres.
Such sharp, steep ramps are where both Martin and Roche excel and they’ll be going all out to try and secure stage win and possibly race leadership there.
Bertjan Lindeman put in a fantastic ride to win from the stage-long breakaway and wasn't slow to show his delight at the finish (Photo: Sirotti)
Stage 7: Jodar to La Alpujarra (190km)
1 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 5:10:24
2 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida 0:00:09
3 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:29
4 Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:34
5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:36
6 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge
7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
9 Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky
11 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin
12 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
13 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
15 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:45
16 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:51
17 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:03
18 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha
20 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
21 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
22 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team
23 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:09
24 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
25 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:01:18
26 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:21
27 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
28 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:25
29 Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:31
30 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:01:33
General Classification
1 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge 27:06:13
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:10
3 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin 0:00:33
4 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:00:36
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:49
6 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:56
7 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:57
8 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
9 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:01:18
10 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:19
11 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:21
12 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:22
13 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:29
14 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:39
15 Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka 0:01:51
16 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:05
17 Sergio Luis Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:02:24
18 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:02:25
19 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:02:50
20 Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:51
21 Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:55
22 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:01
23 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:10
24 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:03:25
25 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:54
26 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Team Europcar 0:03:55
27 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:04:10
28 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Colombia 0:04:40
29 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:04:57
30 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:16
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