Dan Martin with his right shin bandaged from a crash. He faces a tricky final weekend with many challenges.
Dan Martin is facing the final difficult weekend at the Vuelta a Espana knowing that after a great ride thus far he is fighting a war on two fronts.
Looking at his last chance for a stage win, he's also hoping the climbs today, Saturday, and tomorrow's concluding time trial do not cost him a place on the overall standings.
After finishing yesterday's stage safely in the main bunch five seconds after late breakaway man Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) celebrated a lone victory, Martin remains 6th overall.
He is 6:53 down on race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and 3:20 off the final podium place, currently held by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
The Irish man's chances of moving up even one place in the general classification are limited, with the five riders ahead of him having proven clearly the strongest.
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Race leader Contador must face a Froome offensive this weekend, with the Briton improving during this race and with Ireland's Philip Deignan as a key asset.
In 5th place overall, and just one spot ahead of the Garmin Sharp man, is Fabio Aru of Astana. He has won two stages already and has a cushion of 3:37 over Martin.
However, behind Martin is Samuel Sanchez; the BMC man just seven seconds back having eaten his way into Martin's advantage when he dropped him on the final climb of the day on Thursday.
While Martin goes into today's stage knowing it is his last chance of a stage win on this race, it is hard to look beyond those ahead of him for the win, especially Aru.
He is clearly flying and may be let go by the others seeing he is so far down overall. Meanwhile Froome, who dropped race leader Contador on Thursday, will go all-out today on the final summit finish.
The scenery may have been nice yesterday, but the riders face two more Vuelta stages before term is out.
Philip Deignan, who took 3rd over the final cat 2 climb yesterday and finished in 22nd place on the day, will likely be instrumental to how Froome's challenge plays out tomorrow.
Their Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford has insisted Froome can still win the race, and his giving away just 1:09 to race leader Contador is very manageable.
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Awaiting the riders today is 185.7km from Santo Estevo de Riba de Sil to Puerto de Ancares, with a cat 1 climb to be crested at 163km, after the field has scaled a cat 2 and cat 3 earlier in the day.
Once over those three tests, the final showdown will take place on the Ancares mountain to the summit finish.
Adam Hansen celebartes a great stage win yesterday after he outwitted the entire race with a late attack.
It is 12km long and for the first 8km the gradient averages 11 per cent before it evens out a little. It is a climb with many steep ramps along the way and should suit a pure climber like Martin who is explosive and revels in changes of tempo.
The final kilometre is very tough after the slight respite from the end of kilometre 8 until the race goes under the red kite.
Martin has been undergoing a course of antibiotics for a wound on his right shin sustained in a crash last Sunday and that appears to be hampering him slightly.
But he is still on course for a fantastic result against the best Grand Tour group of favourites to do battle this year.
If he can hold off Sanchez today and maybe even attack in search of a stage win, he then faces Sunday’s 9.7km time trial in Santiago de Compostela. It promises to be fast and will not suit Martin.
However, barring disaster, only Sanchez will be in with any chance of overtaking Martin on the general standings. It leaves just one question for the Irish man to answer; how much does he have left in the tank for a tilt at a stage win today?
Stage 19: Salvaterra de Miño - Cangas de Morrazo 180.5km
1 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol 4:21:58
2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:05
3 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
4 Yannick Martinez (Fra) Team Europcar
5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica Greenedge
6 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ.fr
7 Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
9 Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale
11 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
12 Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team
13 Peio Bilbao (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
14 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
15 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
22 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
31 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp
General Classification
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 76:00:40
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:19
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:32
4 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha 0:02:29
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:15
6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp 0:06:52
7 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:06:59
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 0:09:12
9 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:09:44
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale 0:09:45
11 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:12:49
12 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Team Sky 0:14:15
13 Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:18:15
14 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:20:05
15 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha 0:21:55
42 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 1:33:16
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