Great ride by Dan Martin to take sixth despite feeling below par; pictured here today.
By Graham Healy
Following on from last Sunday’s Amstel Gold where Dan Martin finished a disappointing 75th, the Garmin-Barracuda rider hoped for better in today’s second of the Ardennes Classics, Flèche Wallonne, and put in a strong ride to take 6th.
The Irish man said afterwards he felt below par but despite starting the final climb of the Mur de Huy quite far back in the lead group, he battled very well to take his sixth place finish.
The result will give him confidence going into Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, where he will be joined on the start line by his cousin Nicolas Roche.
Today’s 194-kilometre race started in Charleroi, and would take in ten categorised climbs, including three ascents of the Mur de Huy.
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The race saw a long breakaway by Dirk Bellemakers (Landbouwkrediet) and Anthony Roux (FDJ-Big Mat), who escaped after 55 kilometres. The duo gained more than seven minutes, but only had a small lead over the peloton on the penultimate climb of the Mur de Huy, where Martin looked comfortable as he crested the ascent in about 40th place.
The last hour of racing saw some torrential rain, with the Irishman managing to avoid the crashes. With about 10 kilometres remaining, Martin’s Garmin-Barracuda team mate Ryder Hesjedal escaped with Lars Petter Nordhaug (Team Sky), but they only had around 15 seconds starting the final ascent of the Mur.
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At the bottom of the climb, Martin appeared to be too far back to be in contention, and about half-way up the incredibly-steep ascent, pre-race favourite Joaquim Rodríguez jumped clear.
The other favourites including Philippe Gilbert (BMC) were unable to reply to the Spaniard’s attack, and he held on to win by 4 seconds from Michael Albasini and Gilbert.
Despite being well down at the start of the climb, Martin was able to get up to 6th place by the finish, just nine seconds behind Rodriguez. Although individual timings are unavailable for the climb, it would suggest that he may have had the fastest ascent.
He tweeted afterwards that he was very surprised at the result, that he felt bad all day but stayed mentally strong. He also said that he had a poor position at the bottom but kept it going, and that it was a “tough, tough day.”
Martin was also thankful for the Irish support. He thanked everybody who made the trip to Belgium, saying the Irish presence roadside was incredible for his motivation.
Result
1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 4:45:41
2 Michael Albasini (Swi) GreenEdge Cycling Team @ 4 secs
3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
4 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
5 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Astana Pro Team @ 7 secs
6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Barracuda @ 9 secs
7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
9 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team @ 11 secs
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