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Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) made it through the toughest and most demanding day on the Vuelta a España yet to maintain his podium chances on the track on stage 6 of the race.
In torrential rain and with the formidable finish at Formigal, the Irishman used all his climbing skill and experience to limit his losses to several key rivals and drop race leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) on the final ascent to finish 18th on the stage. 1:23 less than escapee survivor and winner Ion Izagirre (Astana).
Martin formed an elite group with Roglič, Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) and Enric Mas (Movistar) in the final kilometers after Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) parted ways in the rain. With 1km to go, Martin accelerated away from Roglič, Chavez and Mas. On the line, he had put 15 seconds on Roglič, and Mas conceded another five.
Caparaz’s move took him from third to first overall, while Carthy, who dropped Carapaz in the final stages, also edged out Martin to second overall. The Irishman is now 20 seconds behind Carapaz with Carthy just two seconds ahead as the race reaches its first rest day on Monday. Roglič lost 48 seconds to Carapaz after showing his first sign of weakness in the race, and the Tour de France runner-up is now fourth with 30 seconds.
For Martin, who already has a stage win to his name, and has seemed to be in his best form in years, the result had both positive and negative aspects, but given where he was on the Tour, the 34-year-old will be more than satisfied with his career after six days of action. Given the conditions on the road and his previous issues with cold and rain, it is understandable that Martin leaned towards the more enjoyable aspects of his performance, especially given the amount of time he spent with several of his top 10 rivals.
“When I saw the weather today, I focused more as it makes the stage even more difficult. With the descents and the cold it adds more chances of making mistakes and wasting time, so I am very happy to move on with another good performance, ”he said at the end.
“I felt good on the last climb, but the higher we climbed, the colder it got and my body stopped working. It was a case of riding as hard as I could to the line. Carapaz and Carthy were really good and obviously coped with the conditions better than me, but I’ve had bad days with the cold before so this shows how good my condition is. It has been an incredibly tough week of aggressive racing so we are very happy with our position heading into the rest day.
“The guys again gave their all for me and supported me well until the last kilometers. I really can’t ask for more and the team’s confidence in me is pushing me forward. We will enjoy the rest day, but we will continue to think about the day- for day and stay focused, ”Martin said.
After the rest day on Monday, the Vuelta a España continues with another tough stage to Villanueva de Valdegovia before the next finish on Wednesday at Alto de Moncalvillo.
