He finished 14th in the ninth stage today to put himself 19 seconds off the lead in the General Classification.
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Giant Alpecin rider Dumoulin, sixth in last year’s Vuelta, was the strongest of the day’s breakaway riders, taking a solo victory in amid a hailstorm after riding most of the day in temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius.
Defending champion Chris Froome retains the overall lead after finishing over six minutes further back.
Froome crossed 11th, 6:35 behind Dumoulin, right behind fellow British rider Adam Yates and immediately ahead of top rival Nairo Quintana of Colombia. It was a tough day out there.
“In the back of my mind I was waiting for his attack all the way up to the last kilometre”, said Froome. “The level is higher”.
With around 4km left of the 184.5km stage which began at Vielha Val d’Aran in Spain and with rain and hailstones falling as the race headed up the climb to the finish, Froome launched an attack, with Movistar’s Nairo Quintana getting on his wheel.
But the Tour lost two-time former champion Alberto Contador who pulled out just over 80km into the stage as he succumbed to injury and illness.
The day was still a success for Froome, with his overall lead again reflecting his team’s brilliant work to control the stage before the finale, as much as his ability to account for a number of attacks on the last climb to Arcalis when the conditions were at their worst.
“There were a lot of attacks in that final climb, I was hoping to gain more time as well”.
If karma has a way of levelling things out then Froome must be in store for a nasty Sunday in Andorra because the wiry Brit’s day only got better after the incident.
Let’s see how Froome’s descending stacked up against some of the most impressive and daring displays of bike handling skills on descents in recent years.
The Spaniard had actually attacked on the first categorised climb of the day, the Port de la Bonaigua, but once he had been caught he was soon in discussions with his team vehicle before eventually climbing in.
“I’ve said it a few times coming into this race, I feel this is going to be the biggest battle of my career, and that’s what it’s turning out to be”, said Froome.
“I’m third overall now, but I still want to take it day by day and try to get a stage win”, added Martin, who uses the Andorre Arcalis climb as one of his regular training rides. “It’s great for us to still be in yellow after such a tough two days like that”, he said. My team-mates did a good job from start to finish.
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After Martin and Majka were also reeled in, Michael Morkov became the first rider to abandon the race, a week after injuring his right leg in a crash during the first stage in Normandy. “I owe it to the that I am still in the yellow this evening”.
