Dan Martin escapes horror crash and signals intentions to be major force in Tour de France
The Garmin-Cannondale man was fourth on the 159 kilometre leg from Anvers to Huy, but has leapt up the overall standings to 20th after what was a truly dramatic stage.
The big talking point was the horror crash 65 kilometres from the finish when FDJ rider came down during a really fast section, causing a huge pile-up.
Such was the severity of the crash that race director Christian Prudhomme first neutralised and then stopped the race to allow medical staff complete the treatment of injured riders.
The riders were stopped for close to 10 minutes before starting again behind a race car that paused proceedings until the summit of the côte de Bohisseau, with 50km to go.
There had been a breakaway of four riders when the spill happened, including Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka), Martin Elmiger (IAM), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Bryan Nauleau (Europcar).
Their lead was re-instated but as expected, their time out front was shortlived as a frantic chase ensued behind, with Martin’s Garmin Cannondale doing some strong turns on the front, albeit with the help of Team Sky and Tinkoff Saxo.
One of the biggest casualties was the yellow jersey of Fabian Cancellara who was seen somersaulting over his handlebars and landing on the verge.
He did restart but eventually crossed the line 11:42 down on the winner and his reign in the yellow jersey is well and truly over.
The maillot jaune now rests on the shoulders of a more familiar name, that of Team Sky’s Chris Froome who was second on the stage behind Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
Froome set a blistering tempo up the final climb and put several big-name contenders under huge pressure, one of whom was his chief rival Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) who lost 18 seconds.
Rodriguez timed his effort to perfection, springing clear as the head of the race began to splinter.
Martin looked like a contender but appeared to be boxed-in when Froome mounted his stinging acceleration.
The other Irishmen, Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) and Sam Bennett (Bora Argon 18) crossed the line in 103rd and 189th, respectively.
Roche was 6:18 down on Rodriguez while Bennett was 11:45 behind.
Roche is now is 112th overall at 11:18 while Bennett is 148th at 14:17.
Today’s stage sees the riders tackle a 223-kilometre journey from Seraing to Cambrai with just one category four climb after around 50 kilometres to negotiate.
However, the cobbles will feature in the race for the second year in succession, with the organisers including 13.3km of pavé over seven sections.
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