Martin, Roche, Deignan turn Paris-Nice screw
Julian Alaphilippe was quick to embrace Dan Martin in thanks at the end of a tough day in the saddle at Paris-Nice.
Dan Martin, Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan all turned the screw in the crucial final hour of racing at Paris-Nice today.
None of the three was riding for themselves but it didn’t stop the Irish bringing their influence to bear on what was a terrific stage.
Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) has already beaten sprinting royalty on this race to take a stage win, Ireland’s first in Paris-Nice since Stephen Roche won the TT back in 1989.
And today the three climbing Irish put in terrific rides.
The stage was won by the very impressive Simon Yates. The Orica-Scott rider waited until the first passage of the climb to the finish line was done.
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And then with about half the finishing circuit of 25km completed Yates sprung from the select group. It had formed on the first passage of the climb.
He had a gap of about 45 seconds on the chasing group by the next time he hit the climb with 1.3km to go. The Briton danced up the hill to win.
But it was back the road where the fireworks were really going off.
After some fantastic work by his BMC team mate Nicolas Roche, Richie Porte was the first to attack on the climb.
He didn’t pull away but his acceleration put everyone under pressure. And when he surged again, race leader Julian Alaphilippe of QuickStep was on his wheel and let him go.
Sensing a moment of weakness, Colombia Sergio Henao of Team Sky took flight. He attacked the climb very impressively and rode away from everyone.
Dan Martin had slipped back down the group a little as Porte and then Henao attacked. When he saw team mate Alaphilippe in trouble he gathered himself.
He caught him and passed up; keeping the man in yellow on his wheel and pacing him to limit his time loss.
Dan Martin has already put in a great TT ride at Paris-Nice and his 5th with a summit finish to come.
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It was a crucial intervention because both Henao and Yates are threats for the overall.
And at the finish, despite the fact he was really on the limit, Dan Martin pulled over a and waved his team mate through
He wanted him to take the placing on the stage in the event there was still some bonus seconds on offer.
It was a great gesture from Martin and impressive and calm thinking despite his exhaustion.
In the end Yates won by 17 seconds from Henao. Porte was 3rd another nine seconds back and then Alaphilippe and Martin, both at 29 seconds.
It meant Alaphilippe comfortably retained his yellow jersey. The significance of Martin’s selfless efforts was clear to see when they hugged and posed for photos after the finish.
Irish play key roles on great stage
Earlier when the early break was still up the road, Philip Deignan put in huge efforts on the front of the depleting peloton.
He was clearly intent on keeping the pace high to set up Henao for a crack at the stage win, and yellow jersey.
And as is Philip Deignan’s usual impact, the moment he began to press himself the bunch was strung out. He maintained his efforts into the final 20km of the race.
For his part, Nicolas Roche lost contact when the 15-rider select group pulled clear on the first passage of the finishing climb.
But he battled for over 10km and got back on. And no sooner had he caught the group than he powered to the front and did Trojan work in a bid to set up Porte.
And it was Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin who both did turns on the front to try to bring back Yates when he attacked.
For his efforts Martin remains 5th overall. He covered at attack by Alberto Contador earlier in the stage. And he will be a card that his team can play on tomorrow’s summit finish.
Stage 6: Aubagne - Fayence (192km)
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 4:37:51
2 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:17
3 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:26
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:29
5 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
6 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:32
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
8 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
9 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
10 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
General Classification
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 21:58:22
2 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
3 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:46
4 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:57
5 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:20
6 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:31
7 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:34
8 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:01:37
9 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:04
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 0:03:08
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