IRELAND’S DAN MARTIN finished 34th and remains ninth overall after the seventh stage of today’s Giro D’Italia.

It follows an excellent performance on Thursday when a third-place finish on stage six brought the 34-year-old into the top 10 in the general classification.

It means he is currently 47 seconds off race leader Attila Valter.

However, it was a bad day for Nicolas Roche as he finished in 175th position, leaving him 65th in the general classification.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Caleb Ewan of the Lotto team won a sprint finish.

Valter of Groupama-FDJ held the leader’s pink jersey after the 181km run between Notaresco and Termoli on the Adriatic coast.

Ewan claimed his fifth stage success of the Giro, and his second this year after also winning stage five.

The 26-year-old finished ahead of Italian Davide Cimolai and Belgian Tim Merlier in a stage run in difficult conditions with strong head winds.

Colombian Fernando Gaviria tried to anticipate the sprint in the final kilometre but Ewan reacted to overtake the UAE-Emirates rider in the final 200 metres.

Italian Domenico Pozzovivo withdrew before the start of the stage after hurting his left arm in a fall on Thursday.

The 38-year-old was competing for the 15th time in the Giro and finished overall 11th last year.

Saturday’s eighth stage covers a 170km run between Foggia and Guardia Sanframondi.

Additional reporting by AFP