Nicolas Roche put up a brave fight in a bid to claim stage glory on yesterday’s 17th stage of the Tour de France but it was German Simon Geschke (Giant Alpecin) who emerged victorious with a brilliant solo victory.

Dan Martin made a brave but ultimately futile bid for a second ever Tour de France stage win yesterday, the Irishman finishing runner-up to Rafal Majka (Tinkoff Saxo) on a gruelling day in the Pyrenees.

Ireland’s Sam Bennett turned around a difficult opening week at his debut Tour de France with a fine 10th place finish on yesterday’s seventh stage.

Tour de France race leader Tony Martin will wait until this morning to decide whether or not he can start today’s seventh leg of the race after he crashed towards the end of yesterday’s stage.

Sam Bennett failed to feature in the first big bunch sprint of this year’s Tour de France after getting caught on the wrong side of a key split during a crucial part of yesterday’s race.

Dan Martin’s luck was out again yesterday at the Tour de France as he crashed and conceded too much time on his main rivals to still be considered a contender for the General Classification.

Dan Martin put in an excellent performance on stage three of the Tour de France yesterday, giving the clearest indication yet that he’s ready to contend for stage honours and contest the General Classification in the race.

Tour de France