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Chinese Whisper

Dan Martin wins in Beijing - but falls seconds short of snatching overall lead

“I’m still happy with second place,” says Martin after narrowly missing out in the Beijing GC.

IRELAND’S DAN MARTIN kicked away from his rivals in the last 200m to win the fourth stage at the Tour of Beijing.

But there were mixed emotions as race leader Philippe Gilbert did just enough to hang on to the red jersey ahead of tomorrow’s final stage.

Martin and Gilbert were joined by general classification rivals Esteban Chaves Rubio and Rui Costa on the final climb to Zhangjiakou.

Martin crossed the line two seconds ahead of the chasing trio and jumped from 21st place to second but when the bonuses were taken into account, Gilbert still held a three-second lead.

He said: “I’m just happy to win the stage — the GC would have been a bonus.”

Martin singled out the work of his Garmin-Sharp team-mates, adding: ”The guys rode incredible all day. All week they’ve been riding incredible.

“It’s unfortunate to miss the GC and obviously anything can happen tomorrow but other than bad luck, I think Philippe’s got the GC.

“I’m still happy with second place.”

Watch the stage finish here from 1:50:00:

TourofBeijing / YouTube

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