Dan breaks to close gap on Froome
FOR the third successive stage, Dan Martin’s end-game courage shone as he again made inroads on the yellow jersey of race leader. A daring solo attack on the flat inside the final 10km helped the Irish rider move up to fifth place overall ahead of Mikel Landa. Martin now stands one minute and nine seconds behind Chris Froome heading into the final week and remains a serious contender for a podium finish in Paris next Sunday. Stage 15 to Le Puyen-Velay saw Nicolas Roche finish sixth behind Dutchman Bauke Mollema to move to 34th overall, but it was the aggression of his cousin, Martin, which lit up the closing kilometres. Surging clear of an elite group, which included Froome, Landa, Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet and Rigobert Uran, Martin’s break appeared unlikely. But by the time Landa and Froome reacted, Martin had hooked on to a group of four up the road who helped him stay clear to the finish. At the line, Martin placed 25th on the stage but held a crucial 14-second gap on Froome’s group, good enough to overtake Landa. ‘Dan Martin continues to ride aggressively. When no one wanted to push on in that elite group, he had a go and got rewarded with a handful of seconds,’ said Seán Kelly. Martin remains firmly on course for the highest finish by an Irish rider on the Tour since his uncle Stephen Roche was ninth in 1992. Martin might even be a serious contender to emulate Roche’s Tour de France win of 1987 had he not lost one minute and 15 seconds in the ugly fall which ended Richie Porte’s race eight days ago on the descent to Chambery. He shipped a back injury and was stiff and sore for a few days afterwards but his form in the Pyrenees, and over the weekend, suggests he can be a major player when the race crosses the Alpine peaks midweek. Meanwhile, Froome rescued his hopes after they had looked to be disappearing into the ravines and gorges of the Massif Central. Cut adrift after a broken spoke forced a wheel change, Froome was at one minute 50 seconds behind rivals Bardet, Aru and Uran. Given how tight the standings remain in the race for the yellow jersey, his ambitions for a fourth win were under serious threat. ‘I panicked a little,’ said Froome, who ultimately clawed his way back to retain his 18-second lead. ‘It was an extremely stressful moment. I thought maybe I wouldn’t be able to get back to the front, that it could be the yellow jersey changing shoulders again. ‘AG2R (Bardet’s team) were riding hard, but just before the climb I had a problem because my back wheel was broken and I had to change it. ‘Michal Kwiatkoswski stopped and gave me his because the team car was far behind. Once again, I have to thank my team today.’