Dan Martin was just beaten by Peter Sagan at the end of stage 3 of the Tour de France; the uphill finish providing a thrilling sprint.
Irish cyclist Dan Martin onto Tour de France podium
Dan Martin has finised 3rd on today’s stage 3 of the Tour de France, with world champion Peter Sagan taking the victory.
And Martin takes four bonus seconds for his troubles after a fantastic uphill sprint that saw him on the Tour de France podium for the first time this year.
Sagan claimed victory despite pulling his foot out of the pedal and being forced to right himself.
He crossed the line at the end of the stage from Verviers to Longwy just ahead of Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), with Martin next.
Sprint incroyable de @petosagan, surpuissant pour s'imposer devant @blingmatthews / What a sprint from Sagan, so much power! ?? #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/FJGFOYWHnL
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 3, 2017
The Irishman perhaps could have given himself a better chance of winning had he started the final sprint closer to the front of the peloton.
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He was tenth man in the lined-out head of the group with 450 metres to go. At that point Sagan sat second wheel behind lead rider Porte, biding his time.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) was 4th today. His bid to win was set up by Nicolas Roche who did a huge turn on the front up the final climb.
Roche took effectively began the charge to the line, hitting the front with just over 1km remaining as the road was kicking up steeply.
He remained driving on the front until about 800 metres to go, with no shortage of grimacing faces behind.
And the sudden appearance of the GC men at the front of the fragmenting peloton underlined how hard Roche was making it for everyone.
Richie Porte would take over from Roche but the Australian hit the front far too early to win.
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In the end it was Sagan who came through very strongly, despite his mishap, to win. Matthews and Dan Martin pressed him hard every inch of the way.
The top four were two seconds ahead of the next man home; Alberto Bettiol of Cannondale-Drapac taking 5th place.
Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome of Team Sky were 8th and 9th, with Thomas retaining his yellow jersey as a result.
"What is pressure? I don't know what it is," said a delighted Sagan after the stage. "First of all, I want to thank team for pulling all day.
"It was not easy with the head wind and a lot of stress in the peloton. And it was a pretty hard climb at the end.
"I saw a little gap with 800m to go. I decided to speed up. It was far away and too early.
"When I started my sprint, my foot went out of the pedal. It was another mistake but I won.
"Michael Matthews almost beat me but I'm glad I stayed ahead of him."
Dan Martin Tour de France on track
Today's 3rd place for Dan Martin, at the end of 212.5km, follows his decent showing in the Tour de France opening TT on Saturday.
In the test he relinquished time to only a small number of his general classification rivals. And he even gained time on others.
Following on from that ride, he stayed safe on yesterday's crash-marred stage 2. It ended in a bunch sprint won by his QuickStep team mate Marcel Kittel.
Stage 3: Verviers - Longwy (212.5km)
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 5:07:19
2 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
3 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
5 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:02
6 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
8 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
9 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
10 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
49 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:00:25
General Classification
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 10:00:31
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:12
3 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:00:16
6 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:25
7 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:30
8 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:32
9 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:34
11 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:37
12 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:38
13 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:40
14 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
15 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:43
53 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:01:37
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