Dan Martin’s resurgence at Critérium du Dauphiné continued with a third-place finish on Saturday’s penultimate day of racing that sees the Irish cyclist two and a half minutes down on leader Geraint Thomas.
Thomas extended his lead at the Criterium du Dauphine after finishing second behind stage six winner Pello Bilbao, but Martin put in another fine showing with one day of racing to come.
Martin slipped down general standings after his team lost time on stage three, but a second-place finish on Thursday’s climbing stage, a stage victory on Friday after a well executed attack and today’s performance has seen the 31-year-old turn his fortunes right around.
Martin crossed the line with Romain Bardet, with the Frenchman 29 seconds ahead of the UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates cyclist in the third place in the general classification.
Team Sky's Thomas came home 21 seconds behind Spain's Bilbao (Astana), who staged a heroic solo effort 12 kilometres from the finish to triumph.
Bardet and Martin were unable to stay with Thomas, who broke clear of their small group 500 metres from the line.
