9 Jul 2013

Irishman wins stage nine on Tour de France

6:11 am on 9 July 2013

Irishman Dan Martin is celebrating his first stage win on the Tour de France, improving to ninth place overall after a dramatic day of racing in the Pyrenees, while the overall leader, Englishman Chris Froome had to dig deep to defend the yellow jersey.

Martin, who's a Garmin Sharp team-mate of New Zealand Tour rookie Jack Bauer, beat the Dane Jakob Fuglsang in a two-man sprint, while the overall leader Froome crossed the line 19 seconds later alongside all the other race favourites.

Alejandro Valverde has moved into second place overall, a minute and 25 seconds behind Froome, and the dual champion Alberto Contador is a minute 51 seconds down on the leader in 6th place.