Dan Martin pulls over having done his turn on the front in the stage 3 TTT at Critérium du Dauphiné in France today. Team Sky were in flying form as Martin and his team put in a performance to forget.
Team Sky dominates Critérium du Dauphiné TTT
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Dan Martin's Team UAE Emirates had a day to forget at Critérium du Dauphiné, suffering a collapse in the TTT and losing more than two minutes.
The result meant Martin, who had already lost time in the individual TT that opened the race, has dropped ten places overall.
More significant, however, than his slide to 45th place is the time he is down overall. The 31-year-old is now 2:57 off race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky).
The worry for Dan Martin is that today’s test was over the same distance as stage 3 of the Tour de France next month.
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And while the team’s line-up for the Tour will likely be stronger than this week, today’s ride raises questions about the squad’s approach to team tests.
Of the 22 teams in the race, UAE Team Emirates was 20th; a very poor ride by the WorldTour outfit.
However, Martin has battled and climbed excellently in this race over the past three years.
He was 3rd overall 12 months ago and in 2016 and his time losses today mean he will need to go on the attack; something Irish fans want to see.
There are plenty of climbing opportunities to come, with uphill finishes to all of the four remaining stages.
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The top three: Team Sky, BMC Racing and Lotto-Soudal.
Today in the race against the clock from Pont-de-Vaux to Louhans-Châteaurenaud Team Sky put on a master class.
Kwiatkowski had won the prologue TT on Sunday but lost his race lead yesterday to Daryl Impey (Dimension Data) when it crashed near the finish.
But the Pole reclaimed that jersey today with an astonishing team ride; Team Sky some 38 seconds faster than runners-up BMC Racing in 36½ minutes of racing.
The winning ride was done in an average of 57.45km per hour. Lotto-Soudal came 3rd, some 53 seconds down followed by Mitchelton-Scott and QuickStep; at 56 seconds and 1:02 respectively.
The result sees Team Sky riders fill the first four positions overall. Kwiatkowski leads by three seconds from Gianni Moscon, with Jonathan Castroviejo next at 9 seconds.
Geraint Thomas, who crashed in the prologue, is 4th some 21 seconds off yellow. Then comes a BMC Racing trio; Brent Bookwalter, Damiano Caruso and Joey Rosskopf 48, 52 and 53 seconds down.
Of the general classification contenders; Julian Alaphilippe is closest to the men from Team Sky. The QuickStep rider is in 11th place some 1:09 down.
Tomorrow sees the riders take on 181km from Chazey-sur-Ain to Lans-en-Vercors. There is a cat 4 climb at 102km followed by the largest climb of the day; the Col di Mont Noir.
It reaches altitudes of 1,400 metres and is crested with 39km remaining. The stage later finishes atop a cat 2 climb; a course that can suit Dan Martin if he has the legs.
Stage 3 TTT (35km)
1 Team Sky 0:36:33
2 BMC Racing Team 0:00:37
3 Lotto Soudal 0:00:52
4 Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:56
5 Quick-Step Floors 0:01:01
6 Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
7 AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:29
8 Movistar Team 0:01:31
9 LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:32
10 Groupama-FDJ 0:01:33
11 Dimension Data 0:01:41
12 EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:44
13 Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:45
14 Astana Pro Team 0:01:48
15 Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:49
16 Bahrain-Merida 0:02:04
17 Vital Concept Club 0:02:20
18 Fortuneo-Samsic 0:02:25
19 Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:27
20 UAE Team Emirates 0:02:28
21 Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:03:10
22 Team Sunweb 0:03:19
General Classification
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 9:28:21
2 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:03
3 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:09
4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:21
5 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:48
6 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:52
7 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:53
8 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:54
9 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:01
10 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:08
11 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:09
12 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:16
13 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:17
15 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:19
45 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:57
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