Dan Martin jumps up on Tour GC after 2nd place finish on Planche des Belles Filles

On the first summit finish of this year’s Tour de France to Planche des Belles Filles, Dan Martin (Quick Step Floors) nabbed second behind Fabio Aru (Astana) and has now moved up to fourth on general classification. In the process, he gained time on many of the other GC contenders and is now just 25″ behind new race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky).

Martin, who accelerated on the 20% ramp leading to the finish, dropped defending champion Froome and Richie Porte (BMC), arriving just a handful of seconds behind Aru.

Long before the peloton hit the base of the 5.9km-long climb – one of the crucial tests of this edition – Team Sky pilled up the pressure, splitting the peloton to bits.

With 2.4 kilometres remaining, Fabio Aru (Astana) attacked with nobody responding. The Italian surged clear and held on to take the stage win.

Martin meanwhile put in an attack and a selection was made, with only a few contenders reacting to that move. Martin went one more time and distanced everybody else, to claim Ireland’s best result in three decades on a summit finish at the Tour de France, a result which strengthened the 30-year-old’s credentials for a strong overall result by the time the race will arrive in Paris.

“Tough day out there, I felt the heat on the final climb and at times you had the impression you were glued to the road,” said Martin who nabbed his second podium in the space of three days, after the one in Longwy, which catapulted him to fourth place in the general classification, only 25 seconds behind the leader.

“Fabio was strong, so congrats to him, but despite coming second, I am satisfied. I’m very confident, as I really enjoy racing here and don’t feel any pressure whatsoever. The team is on a roll, we are the best squad in the world, which you can see by taking a look over the victories and list of results since the start of the season. Of course, it’s still early and a lot can happen in the Tour, but so far I’m happy of how things went.”