Dan Martin will face a crucial test in his battle to hold onto sixth place in the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday.
He finished in the reduced-size main bunch on today's leg of the race, maintaining his position in the general classification, but needs to ensure that the rider just behind him in the overall standings, Samuel Sanchez (BMC Racing Team) doesn't make up the seven seconds which separate them.
Sanchez attacked on the descent of the final climb today but was reeled in before the line. Philip Deignan (Sky) and Martin (Garmin-Sharp) were 22nd and 31st respectively on the stage.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Roche remained in fourth place overall in the Tour of Britain despite new race leader Alex Dowsett (Movistar) leapfrogging him in the general classification. The rider who had been ahead of Roche, Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing Team), was displaced when the Irishman took a bonus second in the first intermediate sprint.
Rás na mBan race leader Tayler Wiles boosted her lead today with a win in the stage three time trial.
Vuelta a Espana
Stage 19
Irish: 22, P. Deignan (Team Sky); 31, D. Martin (Garmin Sharp) both 5 seconds behind winner
General classification: Irish: 6, D. Martin (Garmin Sharp) at 6 mins 52 secs; 42, P. Deignan (Team Sky) at 1 hours 33 mins 16 secs
Tour of Britain
Stage 6: Bath - Hemel Hempstead: 1, Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) 205.7 kilometres in 4 hours 44 mins 49 secs; 2, A. Dowsett (Movistar Team) at 1 sec; 3, T. Stewart (Madison Genesis); 4, S. Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF) at 1 min 51 secs; 5, N. Ruffoni (Bardiani CSF); 6, B. Swift (Team Sky)
Irish: 28, N. Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) same time; 68, R. Mullen (An Post-Chainreaction) at 5 mins 23 secs; 80, S. Bennett (Team NetApp-Endura) at 13 mins 59 secs; 109, J. Wilson (An Post-Chainreaction) at 21 mins 51 secs
Sprint 1 – Devizes (Km. 29.8): 1, Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 3 pts; 2, B. Wiggins (Team Sky) 2; 3, N. Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) 1
General classification after stage 6: 1, Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team) 25 hours 7 mins 53 secs; 2, M. Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) at 34 secs; 3, E. Zardini (Bardiani CSF) at 40 secs; 4, N. Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 50 secs; 5, D. Teuns (BMC Racing Team) at 51 secs; 6, J. Izagirre Insausti (Movistar Team) at 1 min 0 secs
Other Irish: 81, R. Mullen (An Post-Chainreaction) at 28 mins 44 secs; 94, S. Bennett (Team NetApp-Endura) at 37 mins 38 secs; 109, J. Wilson (An Post-Chainreaction) at 1 hour 2 mins 19 secs
Mountains classification: 1, Mark McNally (An Post-Chainreaction) 50 pts; 2, M. Brandle (IAM Cycling) 30; 3, T. Stewart (Madison Genesis) 20
Rás na mBan:
Stage 3 time trial, Barefield: 1, Tayler Wiles (DID Cycle 4 Life) 11 mins 0.63 secs; 2, M. Matthijsse (Bonico Squadra) at 32.58 secs; 3, M. Weaver (Epic Scott) at 32.86 secs; 4, C. Demay (Bretagne) at 42.97 secs; 5, C. Fraser (Fusion RT) at 45.19 secs; 6, O. Dillon (Ireland) at 47.1 secs
Overall classification after three stages: 1, Tayler Wiles (DID Cycle 4 Life) 4 hours 55 mins 44 secs; 2, M. Matthijsse (Bonico Squadra) at 33 secs; 3, M. Weaver (Epic Scott) same time; 4, C. Demay (Bretagne) at 43 secs; 5, C. Fraser (Fusion RT) at 45 secs; 6, O. Dillon (Ireland) at 47 secs
