Tuesday 14 October 2014 10:19, UK
Dan Martin pulled off an impressive victory on stage four at the Tour of Beijing but was unable to snatch the race lead from Philippe Gilbert.
The Irishman jumped clear with 400 metres to go on Mentougou Miaofeng mountain and fended off his closest rivals to win the queen stage by two seconds.
Johan Esteban Chaves followed Martin’s wheel closely to claim second, while Gilbert dug deep to snatch third on the line, securing four crucial bonus seconds in the process.
That was enough to ensure the BMC rider takes a slender three-second lead over Martin into the final stage, with intermediate time bonuses likely the only way he can be beaten on the flat city circuit.
Ryder Hesjedal was the first of the big names to launch an attack on the 12.6km final climb and opened out a useful advantage. Team Sky and Dario Cataldo set about shutting down the Canadian, but it was Martin who benefited most from his team-mate’s attack.
The result continued the Garmin-Sharp rider's recent run of form after victory at Il Lombardia.
The 157km queen stage featured six categorised climbs and a summit finish, with the finale again proving critical in deciding the GC standings. Chaves now occupies the final podium place overall, a further six seconds back on Martin.
After 25km of racing the quartet of Graeme Brown (Belkin), Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale), Boris Vallee (Lotto Belisol) and Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) established themselves in the break but the race came back together ahead of the finale.
Team Sky were among the teams who kept the move in check but it was BMC who hit the front with the biggest representation on behalf of overnight leader Gilbert. That work-rate paid off with the Belgian now one step away from overall victory.
Stage four result
1 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, 4:12:14
2 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +2
3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing, same time
4 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida, st
5 Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing, +10
6 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
7 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano, st
8 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, st
9 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Katusha, st
10 David Lopez (Esp) Team Sky, +13
General classification
1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing, 15:19:47
2 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, +3
3 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +9
4 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida, +11
5 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Katusha, +23
6 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano, st
7 Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing, st
8 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, st
10 Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, +26
