Dan Martin finishes seventh on Tour de France's Stage 10 as UAE Team Emirates rider stays in GC hunt

David Cooper - Writer 00:40 18/07/2018
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  • Dan Martin leads UAE Team Emirates in the Basque Country.

    Dan Martin held his nerve on Stage 10 of the Tour de France to cross the line alongside his fellow General Classification (GC) contenders in seventh place for UAE Team Emirates.

    Martin showed attacking intent and tried to break away from the chasing group with 10km to go, but was quickly reigned in on the descent of the Col de la Colombiere.

    Keen to limit the time gap, the Stage 6 winner pushed up the final kick to secure a respectable seventh place and remain in the hunt overall in 17th place – five minutes off the pace.

    Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) won the stage after breaking away early and looking in full control as he crossed the line 01:34” in front of his nearest rival.

    Greg Van Avermaet extended his lead in yellow to more than two minutes with a superb ride.

    The BMC rider crossed the line fourth on the stage but one minute 39 seconds ahead of the main group of contenders, which included Team Sky’s Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, plus Adam Yates of Mitchelton-Scott.

    That saw the Belgian extend his overall lead to two minutes and 22 seconds over Thomas, with Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde up to third.

    Irishman Martin said: “It’s nice to get the first one out of the way. It’s always a bit nervous after the rest day. I’m pretty happy with that. It was a block head wind (on the final climb), every bone in my body said don’t attack.

    “But I knew if guys were five or 10 seconds off the back, by the time we reach the bottom it could be one minute. The next two days are going to be brutal and I’ll see how my legs are – but I expect a lot more attacks tomorrow.”

    There will be little time for riders to recover as they look ahead to another tough day in the mountains and battle a 108.5km route from Albertville to La Rosiere.

    These parcours have already featured on this year’s UCI World Tour – as part of Stage 6 of the Criterium du Dauphine – so will be familiar to many of the riders.

    Martin picked up a top five finish on that stage in June so will be hopeful of a strong performance as he hunts a second Tour de France stage victory.

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