Dan Martin had a day of conserving as much energy as possible prior to the final big battle in the mountains at the Tour de France, with Nicolas Roche being the Irish aggressor on stage 17 of the race.
Roche went clear very soon after the drop of the flag in Pont du Gard, being one of 34 riders who forged ahead. They were out front for much of the stage but Roche wasn’t one of those who pushed ahead closer to the end of the 200 kilometre stage to dispute the stage win. He rolled in 16th, one minute 44 seconds behind the stage winner Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott).
“It was a very hard day actually,” the Team Sunweb professional said at the finish. “I knew that the stages into Gap are always hard. There is normally a big battle with big groups that want to make it to the finish and that it’s a good chance for the breakaway. Mentally this morning I was prepared to give it a good try to go in the breakaway and that’s what I did.
“Coming into the finish our group split in two and I was caught in the second part. I tried to bridge across on the climb but it wasn’t enough.”
He told the Irish Times this week that he will do his utmost to get a stage win and that he would continue to attack in the mountains if he didn’t succeed on Wednesday.
Martin finished alongside the other general classification contenders, 20 minutes and 10 seconds behind Trentin. He dropped one place to 14th overall but if he recovers from the unexpected weakness he showed last weekend, he will advance in the general classification. However, like Roche, a stage win will now be his biggest focus before the race ends next Sunday in Paris.
The Tour continues on Thursday with the first of three big mountain stages in the Alps. The riders will race over several major climbs en route to the finish in Valloire.
Tour de France (WorldTour)
Stage 17, Pont du Gard to Gap: 1, Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) 200 kilometres in 4 hours 21 mins 36 secs; 2, K. Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 37 secs; 3, G. Van Avermaet (CCC Team) at 41 secs; 4, B. Mollema (Trek-Segafredo); 5, D. Teuns (Bahrain-Merida); 6, G. Izagirre Insausti (Astana Pro Team)
Irish: 16, N. Roche (Team Sunweb) at 1 min 44 secs; 61, D. Martin (UAE Team Emirates) at 20 mins 10 secs
Sprint 1 - Vaison-La-Romaine km. 62: 1, Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Gobert) 20 pts; 2, T. De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 17; 3, J. Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) 15
Points: 1, Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) 50 pts; 2, K. Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 30; 3, G. Van Avermaet (CCC Team) 20
Mountain 1 (Cat. 4) Cote de la Rochette-Du-Buis, km. 104.5: 1, Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 1
Mountain 2 (Cat. 3) Col De La Sentinelle, km. 191.5: 1, Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) 2 pts; 2, K. Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 1
Young riders: 1, Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 4 hours 22 mins 13 secs; 2, N. Politt (Katusha-Alpecin 2 mins 23 secs; 3, E. Mas (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 19 mins 33 secs
Combativity: 1, Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott)
Teams: 1, Trek-Segafredo, 13 hours 9 mins 12 secs; 2, Cofidis Solutions Credits, at 14 secs; 3, UAE Team Emirates, at 1 min 30 secs
Other: 17, Team Sunweb, at 50 mins 28 secs
General classification after stage 17: 1, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 69 hours 39 mins 16 secs; 2, G. Thomas (Team Ineos) at 1 min 35 secs; 3, S. Kruijswijk (Team Jumbo-Visma) at 1 min 47 secs; 4, T. Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) at 1 min 50 secs; 5, E. Bernal (Team Ineos) at 2 mins 2 secs; 6, E. Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 2 mins 14 secs
Irish: 14, D. Martin (UAE Team Emirates) at 11 mins 39 secs; 27, N. Roche (Team Sunweb) at 40 mins 59 secs
Points classification: 1, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 309 pts; 2, E. Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) 224; 3, S. Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) 203
Mountains classification: 1, Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) 64 pts; 2, T. Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) 50; 3, T. De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 38
Young riders classification: 1, Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) 69 hours 41 mins 18 secs; 2, D. Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) at 13 mins 31 secs; 3, E. Mas (Deceuninck-QuickStep) at 42 mins 0 secs
Teams Classification: 1, Trek-Segafredo, 208 hours 59 mins 41 secs; 2, Movistar Team, at 8 mins 13 secs; 3, UAE Team Emirates, at 46 mins 23 secs
Other: 15, Team Sunweb, at 2 hours 40 mins 38 secs
