Irish rider Daniel Martin today starts the final stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean atop the standings in the King of the Mountains classification.
The 23 year old is four points clear of Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) and six ahead of 2009 Vuelta a España champion Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne). Providing he rides well on the final leg to the summit of Mont Faron, he could add victory in the competition to his other strong career results.
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| Martin in the red and while jersey for best climber |
Yesterday’s stage went to Frenchman El Fares. He was clear with Jonathan Thire (Big Mat - Auber 93) and Dominique Cornu (Skil - Shimano) for much of the day. The race was due to end in Biot but, due to ice on the roads, the finish was annulled after 114 kilometres of racing. After much discussion, it was decided to allow the three breakaway riders to sprint it out for the win, and El Fares duly prevailed.
He also took first on two of the day’s three categorised climbs and jumped up the standings in the mountains competition. However Martin was best of those behind the break, netting fourth places on the Col de la Taillude and the Bagnols en Foret and ending the day with that four point lead.
The general classification was ruled unchanged, with Jussi Veikkanen (Française Des Jeux 1) maintaining his four second lead over William Bonnet (BBox Bouygues Telecom). Martin and Irish road race champion Nicolas Roche (Ag2r la Mondiale) are 79th and 93rd respectively.
The 2.1-ranked race concludes today with a short, sharp 126 kilometre race from La Ciotat to Mont Faron in Toulon. It features two first- and two second-category climbs, with half of those coming in the first 32 kilometres. Martin’s best tactic may well be to try to pick up some points early on, padding his lead, then conserve his energy on the flatter middle section before aiming for a strong ride on the final climb.
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Martin is regarded as one of the top young talents in the sport and while this is his first event of the season and he is still building form, he will aim to underline his climbing ability today.
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Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel, France (2.1, February 10-14) :
February 13, Stage 4: La Londe les Maures – Biot :
1, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 114 km in 2 hours 55 mins 14 secs
2, Jonathan Thire (Big Mat - Auber 93)
3, Dominique Cornu (Skil - Shimano) all same time
Mountain 1 - Col du pas du Cerf :
1, Leonardo-Fabio Duque (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 4 pts
2, Przemyslaw Niemiec (Miche) 2
3, Jonathan Hivert (Saur - Sojasun) 1
Mountain 2 - Col de la Taillude :
1, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 5 pts
2, Jonathan Thire (Big Mat - Auber 93) 3
3, Dominique Cornu (Skil - Shimano) 2
4, Daniel Martin (Garmin - Transitions) 1
Mountain 3 - Bagnols en Foret :
1, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 10 pts
2, Jonathan Thire (Big Mat - Auber 93) 7
3, Dominique Cornu (Skil - Shimano) 5
4, Daniel Martin (Garmin - Transitions) 3
General Classification:
1, Jussi Veikkanen (Française Des Jeux 1) at 1 hours 37 mins 25 secs
2, William Bonnet (BBox Bouygues Telecom) at 4 secs
3, Mathieu Drujon (Caisse d'Epargne) at 6 secs
4, Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana)
5, Arnaud Coyot (Caisse d'Epargne) at 10 secs
6, Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne)
Irish:
79, Daniel Martin (Garmin - Transitions) at 10 mins 13 secs
93, Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) at 14 mins 16 secs
Points Classification:
1, Yauheni Hutarovich (Française Des Jeux) 51 pts
2, William Bonnet (BBox Bouygues Telecom) 47
3, Fabien Bacquet (Big Mat - Auber 93) 41
4, Jussi Veikkanen (Française Des Jeux) 27
5, Mathieu Drujon (Caisse d'Epargne) 27
6, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 25
Mountains Classification:
1, Daniel Martin (Garmin - Transitions) 19 pts
2, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 15
3, Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) 13
4, Jonathan Thire (Big Mat - Auber 93) 10
5, Dominique Cornu (Skil - Shimano) 7
6, Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) 6
Other Irish:
15, Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) 1
Young Riders Classification:
1, Michel Kreder (Garmin - Transitions 1) at 1 hours 39 mins 33 secs
2, Steven Tronet (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
3, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
Irish:
20, Daniel Martin (Garmin - Transitions) at 8 mins 5 secs
