For Quick-Step Floors, stage 3 of the French race was a quiet one and saw all six riders of the squad finish it safely in the bunch.
Dan Martin ticked off another day at the Critérium du Dauphiné and is now preparing for the first real test of the race, a 23.5km-long individual time trial scheduled Wednesday afternoon, between La Tour-du-Pin and Bourgion-Jalieu, at the end of which the general classification will witness some important changes.
The 30-year-old rider, protected by his five Quick-Step Floors teammates, completed stage three (Le Chambon-sur-Lignon – Tullins, 184km) in the peloton, who came in the town located in the heart of the Isère department only 11 seconds behind the day-long breakaway.
From that front group, Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo) sprinted to victory, beating Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert). The three were part of a six-man move which went clear after two kilometers and managed to keep the bunch at bay and thus deny the sprinters on a stage which averaged 44.86 km/h.
In the general classification, Dan Martin sits in 28th place, 1:09 behind leader Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal). The Irishman, who so far this season showed remarkable consistency, finishing on the podium at Paris-Nice, Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège as well as winning a Volta ao Algarve stage, will be the last Quick-Step Floors rider to roll down the ramp in what will be the longest individual time trial scheduled by the Critérium du Dauphiné since 2013.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
