Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) was instrumental in the triumph with a bold attack on his own at 17km to go, bringing Canadian fans to their feet, but he was eventually caught by a small group of five riders on the final big climb up Côte de Saint-Nicolas.
Hesjedal’s strike set the stage for his teammate Martin and Rodriguez who were in the small group that caught him. First Rodriguez went and played his cards but Martin was the only rider to respond as he soon caught the Spaniard – now the two were alone in front for an exciting finish. As the finishline approached Martin countered with his own attack that went unanswered and the Irishman took one of the sport’s biggest wins and his first Classic victory.
Results
1. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 6:38:07
2. Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Esp) Katusha 00:03
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Esp) Movistar Team 00:09
4. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
5. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
6. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 00:18
7. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
8. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp
9. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
10. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
11. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
12. Igor Anton Hernandez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
13. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
14. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
15. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
16. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling
17. Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 00:21
18. Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 00:26
19. Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 00:56
20. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
21. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
22. Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 01:00
23. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
24. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
25. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 01:03
26. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
27. Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 01:06
28. Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
29. Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard
30. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida
31. John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
32. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
33. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
34. Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
35. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ
36. Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling 01:14
37. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
38. Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
39. Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
40. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ 01:18
41. Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard 01:20
42. Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Sharp
43. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Esp) RadioShack Leopard 01:24
44. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
45. Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ 01:25
46. Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 01:30
47. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp 01:34
48. Rafael Valls Ferri (Esp) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
49. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
50. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
51. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica-GreenEdge 01:40
52. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Esp) Katusha 01:49
53. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
54. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 02:12
55. Paul Martens (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 02:15
56. Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
57. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
58. Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
59. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 02:21
60. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 02:28
61. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 04:40
62. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
63. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
64. Marcel Wyss (Sui) IAM Cycling
65. Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Crelan-Euphony 04:51
66. David Lopez Garcia (Esp) Sky Procycling 04:53
67. Alberto Losada Alguacil (Esp) Katusha
68. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 05:16
69. Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack Leopard
70. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
71. Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
72. Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
73. Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
74. Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
75. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha
76. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
77. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
78. Bram Tankink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
79. Angel Vicioso Arcos (Esp) Katusha 05:26
80. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha
81. Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 05:33
82. Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
83. Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 07:51
84. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 07:57
85. Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 08:09
86. Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team 08:20
87. Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
88. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
89. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
90. Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
91. Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Esp) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
92. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
93. Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
94. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 08:29
95. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol
96. Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
97. Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol
98. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling
99. Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
100. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) IAM Cycling
101. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha
102. Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
103. Daniel Navarro Garcia (Esp) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
104. Rémi Cusin (Fra) IAM Cycling
105. Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
106. Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ
107. Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
108. Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Europcar
109. Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
110. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
111. Oliver Zaugg (Sui) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
112. Travis Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
113. Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ
114. Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
115. Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi
116. Brian Vandborg (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling
117. Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Esp) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
118. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
119. Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Accent Jobs-Wanty
120. Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
121. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
122. Mathias Frank (Sui) BMC Racing Team
123. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 09:20
124. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 09:35
125. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 09:54