Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey on a dramatic Stage 9 of the 100th Tour de France, while Dan Martin became the first Irish stage winner since his uncle, Stephen Roche, in 1992.
Twenty-four hours after Froome lit up the Tour with a dazzling ride to Ax 3 Domaines, he had to put in an equally brilliant effort as he fought a lone battle to defend the overall lead. The Englishman got out of the saddle at least half-a-dozen times to cover attacks off the front, playing a fascinating game of cat and mouse as Movistar's Nairo Quintana kicked out four times in the space of two kilometres on the final climb, the category one Hourquette d'Ancizan.
As that squabble went on, the Birmingham-born Martin moved clear along with Jakob Fuglsang to take the long descent to Bagneres-de-Bigorre alone, with the Garmin-Sharp man winning in a short sprint to the line. Froome followed 20 seconds later in a pack that included his major rivals, Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador. "This was one of the hardest days I have ever had on the bike," Froome said. "I had no-one else with me. I am really happy I have come through."
While they kept yellow, Team Sky have plenty to ponder after a bruising second day in the Pyrenees. Richie Porte lost second place overall, finishing more than 17 minutes down, Peter Kennaugh suffered a spectacular and bruising fall, while Vasili Kiryienka is out of the race altogether after being swept up by the broom wagon.
Froome kept his cool on the final climb as Quintana teased him time and again, the Colombian trying to force the pace and help his team-mate Valverde, who replaced Porte in second place overall. Sky will hope Porte recovers on today's rest day with his main work in the Alps still to come.
Sir Dave Brailsford, the Sky team principal, played down the struggles of the Australian. "He fought for a long time and he wasn't that far back," Brailsford said. "But eventually you have to think about the future of the race and not just today, and it was increasingly clear we were going to keep the jersey so there was no need to dig really deep."
Martin, meanwhile, saw his chance for a first career Tour win and went up the outside of Froome and Quintana with 5km of that final climb to go. Fuglsang followed and there was a tense moment in the final stretch before Martin kicked 250 metres from the line, securing the first Irish victory since Roche won stage 16 of the 1992 Tour in La Bourboule.
"We just wanted to have fun today," said the 26-year-old. "We love racing bikes and making racing exciting for people at home."
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