Tour de France: Dan Martin wins on the Mur de Bretagne

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Three years after AG2R La Mondiale denied Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) a stage atop the Mur de Bretagne the Irishman had his revenge, holding off a late challenge from Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) to secure stage 6 of the Tour de France.

Martin demonstrated his uphill prowess with a long-range attack with over a kilometre to go and quickly opened up a significant gap while the yellow-jersey group struggled as the gradient continued to rise. In 2015, it was Alexis Vuillermoz who held off Martin to take the win on the same climb and when LaTour jumped away in pursuit of the Irishman it looked as though Martin would be denied once more. However, as Latour tightened up, Martin found an extra gear to win ahead of the Frenchman and a fast-finishing Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

Behind Martin, the battle for the yellow jersey burst into life ahead of the final of two accents up the Mur de Bretagne with Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) suffering mechanicals. The Frenchman lost 31 seconds to his rivals, with the Giro d'Italia runner-up fairing even worse and dropping a further twenty seconds.

Martin though deserved his win, and a second career stage in the Tour de France after his first triumph in Bagnéres de Bigorre in 2013. The 31-year-old had it all to do in the final 1,500m of the climb. He responded when Richie Porte (BMC Racing) lifted the pace, and immediately shot by the Australian with 1,200m to go. A reluctant looking Porte and then Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) tried to bring Martin to a heel, but despite a headwind the UAE Emirates rider had enough to keep a slim margin on the chasers.

"It's a great feeling to actually get a win again. So many second places at the Tour since the last one. I was a bit nervous because of the headwind, I didn't think it was going to happen. The race went so hard on the first part of the climb - I saw everyone was on the limit, and there were no teammates left, so why not have a try," Martin said at the finish.

"The legs just were there - I don't know what happened. Maybe adrenaline or what. I felt really good yesterday and didn't quite get up there in the final to have a go. It was a good sign for today, I was really relaxed all day - not confident but looking forward to having a crack, looking forward to racing hard on the last climb."

"The last time I got second here, I had already lost a bit of time before the stage, and I thought maybe they'd let me go. Today there was no question, I just attacked as hard as I could. It makes this Tour de France a success, and everything else will be a bonus."

Van Avermaet holds yellow but GC riders lose time

The pace on the final climb was too high for defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky), who conceded five seconds to the group containing Porte, Yates, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali, but the Giro d'Italia winner still faired better than several of his other key rivals.

Last year's Tour de France runner-up, Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) lost a further three seconds but that was a relative success compared to Bardet, with France's main hope forced to take a teammate's bike after a late puncture interrupted his charge up the final climb.

Dumoulin's problems started much earlier with a front wheel puncture inside 6km to go. Despite a high-intensity chase the Dutchman was unable to regain contact with the front of the race, and he crossed the line 53 seconds in arrears. Froome and Dumoulin are now tied on time, 1:03 off Van Avermaet's lead, with Thomas inching himself closer to a slightly more stable leadership bid.

Gentle beginning disrupted by crosswinds

As the race departed from Brest a five-man move established itself from the gun, with Damien Gaudin (Direct Energie), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie), Anthony Turgis (Cofidis), Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo-Samsic), allowed to build a healthy lead as the route wound its way towards two ascents of the Mur de Bretagne.

The leaders drew out over six minutes on the main field as they crested the Cote de Ploudiry, and added a further minute by the time they reached the fourth category, Cote de Roc'h Trevezel. Smith, who wore the KOM jersey earlier the race, took the points at both checks but the race changed dramatically when with 100km to go the route changed direction and Quick-Step made use of a crosswind section.

The conditions were far from extreme but they were enough to see Vincenzo Nibali, Dan Martin, Steven Kruijswijk, Jakob Fuglsang and Movistar's pairing of Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa lose contact. Promiz Roglic was caught even further behind and endured a near 30km chase before finally regaining contact. The intensity and energy exerted from LottoNL-Jumbo to bring the Slovenian back into contention was the clearest indication yet that the Tour de Romandie winner is not here at the Tour for just experience but a possible GC challenge of his own.

The increase in pace saw the break's advantage more than halved and with 80km to go the gap stood at 3:19 with Quick-Step still setting a brisk tempo. The situation remained stable as the stage headed into the final hour of action, but as the first ascent of the Mur de Bretagne drew closer tensions started to fray. A crash involving Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) held up Jakob Fuglsang with a full quota of Astana riders ordered to wait for the Danish leader.

At the head of affairs, Gaudin attacked through the intermediate sprint and although the Frenchman drew out a 25-second lead, his sole responsibility was to try and weaken his enemies within the break before teammate Grellier surged clear. The plan worked to some extent, but with Team Sky and Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe leading the charge the last remaining rider from the break was absorbed into the bunch before the summit of the first ascent up the Mur de Bretagne. Thomas' sprint to take two seconds at the top of the first ascent appeared to be a canny move but only he will know if it sapped his energy before the final climb.

Jack Bauer then launched a move in order to force Yates' rivals to wear themselves out, and the Kiwi dutifully built up a lead close to 30 seconds before he too was caught as the final climb approached. Although Bardet and Dumoulin appeared well-placed before their respective mechanicals they quickly lost ground as the fight for position intensified.

Surprise package Dimension Data hit the front, alongside Team Sky but it was Daniel Oss who ignited the flames with a powerful acceleration through the middle of the road. Julian Alaphilippe made it onto the Italian's wheel but it was Porte who looked the most comfortable when he came through with Thomas on his wheel.

Martin's surge started from further back, with the Irishman later revealing that he attacked from a similar place in 2015 but had been boxed in on that occasion. When the eventual winner soloed clear it looked as though the rest were waiting to pounce, but the truth was that a headwind, Martin's superior legs and telling aggression were enough to take the win. After so many second places it was just what he deserved. 

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