Criterium du Dauphiné: Martin 3rd, Conti 10th at La Rosiere

An aggressive UAE Team Emirates took on the anticipated Critérium du Dauphiné stage to La Rosiere, a photocopy of the stage the riders will face in the 11th stage of the upcoming Tour de France.

Valerio Conti formed part of the large escape, which survived until the last kilometres. Conti went immediately to work when Martin attacked and bridged in order to chase down Pello Bilbao (Astana) and gapped the others.

Bilbao eventually stayed clear for the win, but the group exploded with only the strong surviving. Race leader Geraint Thomas (Sky) took second place, Martin third, Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) fourth and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) fifth.

The move saw Martin jump up 10 places in the overall classification. He now sits fourth at 2-30 minutes from Thomas. Yates holds second at 1-29 and Bardet third at 2-01.

“I wanted to take advantage of the good legs that I have, but it truly was a hard day,” Martin said. “The final was very tactical, maybe that’s because the classification men are a little tired, and we weren’t able to pull in Bilbao like I would’ve wanted.

“Let’s see tomorrow how I am, but I’ll try to do well in the final stage, and my overall classification will benefit as a result.”

The last stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné travels 136 kilometres from Moutiers to the summit finish up to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc.

Stage results:

1 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:34:11

2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:21

3 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:23

4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:23

5 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:26

The overall after the sixth stage

1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 20:51:19

2 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:29

3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:01

4 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:30

5 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:02:39