Dan Martin has started the Criterium du Dauphiné with a brilliant fourth place finish on the opening prologue this afternoon, above. The Irishman was only beaten by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) and Chris Froome (Team Sky).
By Brian Canty
Dan Martin has had a brilliant start to the Criterium du Dauphiné this afternoon, placing fourth behind the race’s three top contenders in the four-kilometre uphill prologue .
The Etixx-QuickStep man scorched up the brutally steep Mont Chery in a time of 11:57, just 21 seconds slower than stage winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff).
Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) and Chris Froome (Team Sky) rounded out the podium by crossing the line six and 13 seconds behind the Spaniard.
Martin looked absolutely excellent in his effort and tapped out a furious tempo for his effort on a climb that averaged 9.8%.
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The middle kilometres never dropped below double figures and though it’s early days in the race and a hell of a long way to go, Martin will take huge confidence from his result.
Also in that top 10 were Wout Poels (Team Sky), Roman Bardet (Ag2R La Mondiale) and his teammate Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep).
“I felt good on the course, enjoyed it and I'm content with my place at the finish.
“We'll see what will happen next, but Dauphiné is always a super aggressive race, difficult to control and every day will be a tough one,” said Martin.
The other Irishman in the race is Sam Bennett and he finished in last place, 5:07 behind Contador.
It was never a stage the Bora-Argon 18 man would have come close to winning so he just cruised up, keen to save his legs for tomorrow’s opening road stage where a bunch sprint is the likely outcome.
His key leadout man, Shane Archbold, also took the climb rather easily and finished 3:36 down so they should be that bit fresher to have a right cut off it tomorrow.
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The stage is a 186-kilometre journey from Clusas to Saint Vulbas and there are four category four climbs.
Crietrium du Dauphine
Sun, June 5th: Les Gets-Les Gets (ITT), 4km
1 Alberto CONTADOR VELASCO, TINKOFF, in 11:36
2 Richie PORTE, BMC RACING TEAM, at :06
3 Christopher FROOME, TEAM SKY, at :13
4 Daniel MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :21
5 Julian ALAPHILIPPE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :24
6 Wout POELS, TEAM SKY, at :25
7 Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :29
8 Adam YATES, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :31
9 Diego ROSA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :37
10 Jesus HERRADA LOPEZ, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :39
176 Sam BENNETT, BORA-ARGON 18, at 5:07
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