Dan Martin sits just 72 seconds off the lead of the Tour de France, but the Irishman could hardly be more relaxed as he insists it is just another bike race.

When Dan Martin crashed hard on stage nine of the Tour de France last Sunday week and crossed the line 1’15” down on stage winner Rigoberto Uran, many felt his best ever chance of a podium in the sport’s greatest contest had passed him by.

Chris Froome surrendered the yellow jersey to Fabio Aru as Romain Bardet won stage 12 of the Tour de France in Peyragudes.

Chris Froome dodged crashes in the pack to retain his overall lead in the Tour de France before the race heads back to the mountains today.

Marcel Kittel yesterday claimed a fourth stage victory in this year’s Tour de France with a thoroughly convincing performance in Bergerac.

Marcel Kittel has won a fourth stage of this year's Tour de France.

After one of the most bizarre Tour de France stages in recent years, overnight leader Chris Froome emerged from a day of chaos with the yellow jersey he claimed last Wednesday.

Dan Martin kept his powder dry on yesterday’s flat stage seven of the Tour de France, the Irishman crossing the line as part of the main bunch thus losing no time to his main rivals for the yellow jersey.

Dan Martin rocketed up the General Classification at the Tour de France yesterday and is now fourth overall just 25 seconds down on the man who assumed the race leader’s yellow jersey, Chris Froome.

Nicolas Roche will roll down the start-ramp in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands this afternoon as one of the two Irish riders in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

Fabio Aru claimed his first Grand Tour win yesterday when he was crowned winner of the Vuelta A Espana after an enthralling three-week battle with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin.

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin moved a step closer to cycling immortality yesterday as he retained the race leader’s red jersey on the 19th stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

Nicolas Roche was the toast of the Vuelta a Espana yesterday when he won the 18th stage of the race in a two-up sprint against home favourite Haimar Zubeldia (Trek Factory Racing).

Just when it seemed like the Vuelta a Espana was slipping from his grasp, Dutch powerhouse Tom Dumoulin produced one of the performances of his career to retake the race lead with four days to go.

Nicolas Roche endured his worst day of this year’s Vuelta A Espana so far after losing over 28 minutes on the 16th stage from Luarca to the summit finish at Ermita de Alba yesterday.

Nicolas Roche slipped outside the top 20 at the Vuelta A Espana yesterday after losing over 13 minutes to stage winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

Portuguese rider Nelson Oliveira took the biggest win of his career on stage 13 of the Vuelta A Espana yesterday as he outsmarted a 24-man breakaway to win alone in Tarazona.

Nicolas Roche’s hopes of bettering his best performance in a Grand Tour are over for another year after he lost over 14 minutes on a hellishly hard day in Andorra.

Nicolas Roche starts the 15th Grand Tour of his career today when he lines up as part of a formidable-looking Team Sky squad for the opening stage of the Vuelta a Espana in the southern port town of Puerto Banus.

A late puncture proved costly for Team Sky’s Richie Porte as Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF) won stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday.

CYCLING: Dan Martin put in a very gutsy display on stage 11 of the Vuelta A Espana yesterday, finishing eighth on the stage, eight seconds behind stage winner Fabio Aru (Astana) and moving up to 11th overall.

Nairo Quintana plans to target the 2015 Tour de France after celebrating victory in the Giro d’Italia yesterday.