Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) believes that the Tour de France is only going to get more aggressive as the general classification riders take their turn at the head of proceedings.
Perhaps one of the most notable things about the opening week of the Tour de France, apart from how quick Marcel Kittel is, is how easy it has been for the breakaway to form. That changed dramatically on stage 8 to Station des Rousses, with a furious start to the day meaning that not only did the breakaway not form for several hours, but the stage finished ahead of the fastest predicted schedule.
Team Sky rode fairly defensively, but Martin is confident that this will change in the coming weeks.
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"I think Chris [Froome] still needs more time. He's not going to want to ride all the way to Paris with just 20 seconds or ride to Marseille with 20 seconds," Martin said as he warmed down on the rollers after stage 8. "I think that we are going to see some more aggressive racing but today wasn't the stage for that. I think it was a case of getting through as best as possible and then tomorrow is the big test."
Martin came through the test up to Station des Rousses pretty well, finishing near the front of the group of favourites. He admitted that he wasn't feeling great at the beginning of the stage, but he worked his way into it, and by the end of the day he felt strong enough to have a little dig off the front. It didn't work out, with Team Sky shutting it down quickly, but it was worth a shot, according to Martin.
"It was more of an opportunity. I wasn't really planning it. I got a bit caught behind, and I was moving up from the back, and I thought why not try to put one up front," he said of the attack. "I didn't have the best day to start with, to be honest. I didn't feel really good this morning, but in the end, I came around and the legs started to feel good on the last climb. Hopefully, I can recover well tomorrow and then tomorrow will be the first real test, I think it will be the hardest stage of the Tour so far. After today, it's not going to be easy."
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