Dan Martin put himself in line for ninth place overall in the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday by riding strongly on the final mountain stage of the race. The Irish Etixx-QuickStep rider jumped clear of the group of race contenders heading into the finish town of Morzine, being the first home of those behind those who had attacked earlier.
He finished just ahead of Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), netting ninth on the stage. He was four minutes and 12 seconds ahead of the solo winner Jon Izaguirre (Movistar), and six seconds ahead of others such as race leader Chris Froome (Sky).
One of those who had been ahead of Martin, Fabio Aru (Astana), cracked and lost time, sliding to 13th overall. However Martin's surge, which he hoped would be enough to limit the gains of attacker Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), wasn't enough to prevent the Spaniard moving ahead of him. The slight reshuffle of Aru and Rodriguez meant that Martin stayed ninth overall.
He will start Sunday's final stage to Paris seven minutes and four seconds behind Froome and should hold that position until the end of the Tour. Compatriot Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) looks set to complete the Tour de France on his second attempt, and will hope to be involved in the final sprint on the Champs Elysees.
He went into the race in very good form but suffered due to the effects of a bad crash on stage one.
