Le Tour mountains over, Nicolas Roche & Dan Martin can look forward with confidence

Dan Martin on his way to Tour de France stage 9 victory before illness set in. Both he and Nicolas Roche have ridden very well in the Tour and should do well in coming months.

By Gavin McLoughlin

Ireland’s Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche safely made it through the final day in the mountains on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France today, Saturday.

Martin, who has been plagued by illness in the final week, made it almost all the way to the foot of the stage-ending climb before being distanced by the peloton. The Irishman eventually crossed the finish line 18:26 behind stage winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

It has been an unfortunate conclusion to Martin’s Tour, with a place in the top ten on general classification slipping away in the final days.

However, after ending Ireland’s 21 year wait for a Tour de France stage victory on a dramatic stage 9, the Garmin-Sharp man will leave this race with his stock greatly increased.

Saxo-Tinkoff’s Nicolas Roche was also distanced at the pointy end of the stage, ultimately arriving in 25^th place on the stage, 5:58 behind Quintana.

Roche’s team leader Alberto Contador was out-climbed by his rivals and lost his place on the podium today, so there is sure to be disappointment on the Saxo-Tinkoff team bus this evening.

But Roche has performed sterling service for the Spaniard and the rest of the squad in his new support role, and he too can leave this Tour with his held head high.

Today the riders faced a 125 kilometre stage from Annecy to the summit of the hors-categorie Semnoz climb. Six categorised climbs were dotted along the route.

The break of the day was a ten-man contingent including Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Leopard), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Christophe Riblon (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Movistar drilled the chasing hordes along at a fast rate, and this meant the escapees never established much of an advantage.

Martin spent a lot of time on the rear of the pack throughout the day, with Roche ensconced further up alongside his leader.

On the lower slopes of the penultimate climb of the day – the first category Mont Revard – Voigt shed his breakaway companions and churned his way towards the summit, with the gap to the peloton now growing out.

The German was desperately determined to fend his pursuers off, crouching over the handlebars with his backside on his top tube on a downhill section before the final climb.

Martin was distanced when Sky took over with the Semnoz looming, as the big Belarusian Kanstantin Siutsou set a hot pace which put many in difficulty.

Voigt made it onto the slope alone but he didn’t last long out front as Alejandro Valverde and Rui Costa were aggressive behind. The German was hoovered up with about 8 kilometres remaining, and very shortly thereafter Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) put in a little attack, taking Quintana with him for company.

Yellow jersey wearer Chris Froome(Sky) allowed the pair some leeway but then produced another of those remarkably rapid accelerations to leave Alberto Contador floundering behind. The Briton caught and passed Quintana and Rodriguez, but the Colombian and the Spaniard quickly managed to close the gap.

This trio rode together for what seemed like an age as the gap to Contador continued to grow, the Saxo-Tinkoff leader’s place on the podium slipping inexorably away.

Froome jumped clear just before the flamme rouge, but the move lacked conviction and the Briton was caught almost instantly by Quintana.The Colombian briefly sat on the race-leader’s wheel before producing a strong attack that proved decisive. He soared ahead to take stage honours, while Rodriguez distanced Froome in the final 500 metres to claim second on the day.

His overall victory now certain, Froome clenched his fist as he crossed the line in third. Contador arrived 2:28 behind Quintana, condemning him to fourth overall.

Tomorrow’s final stage is a 134 kilometre ride from Versailles to Paris, with the race concluding at dusk on the Champs-Elysées. The champagne will flow in the peloton before the sprinters’ teams do battle on the streets of Paris.

Raise a glass to Roche and Martin when you sit down to watch tomorrow evening.

Martin has done fantastically well to get a stage and would have undoubtedly been in or about the top 10 had it not been for his illness, with this race having cemented his place among the very best in the world now.

Roche has ridden very strongly since Corsica three weeks ago after a quiet start to the year and he appears to have gone very well in the past week, suggesting he is coming out of the Tour in good shape. That will give him plenty of confidence for the remainder of the season, including the Vuelta.

@gavmcloughlin