Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) has taken victory in La Flèche Wallonne with Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) coming through with a late charge on Mur de Huy to take 5th.
That placing by the Irish rider may have been even better if he had started the climb closer to the front as he came from a long way back.
However, his ride today heralds his return to form and strongly suggests he is in for a very strong second half of the season after crashing and fracturing a bone in his back last month at Critérium du Dauphiné, which he was forced to abandon.
Martin struggled through the early part of the Tour de France due to his injury but began to show better form as the race progressed and went away in several breakaways.
Today’s result, achieved on a brutally steep finishing climb, was his best for a long time and should give him plenty of confidence for the racing to come.
Hirschi, a Tour de France stage winner, simply had too much power for his rivals at the head of the small peloton that arrived at the foot of the finish climb intact.
The young Swiss rider waited until inside the final 100 metres before he really kicked hard for the line and won it well in the end from Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) and Michael Woods (EF Pro Cycling).
Warren Barguil (Arkéa Samsic) was next, in 4th place, followed by a resurgent Dan Martin, who has confirmed clearly today that there are plenty of big performances left in his legs.
More to come.