Image 1 of 2 Time trial world champion Tony Martin wins another race against the clock with his victory in stage 4 at the Critérium du Dauphiné (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 2 of 2 On Alpe d'Huez near corner 14. (Image credit: Mark Sharon and friends)

Time trial word champion Tony Martin has sharply criticised the descent from the Alpe d'Huez as very dangerous. Sending the riders over that stretch is “irresponsible", the Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider said.

The descent was included in the seventh stage of the Criterium du Dauphine and will also feature in the Tour de France next month, when the Alpe d'Huez will be climbed twice in the 18th stage.

“We rode exactly the course of the Tour,” he said on his personal website. “I must say that i was negatively surprised.

“The road is old, narrow, the surface bad, no barriers, if a rider makes a mistake he will face a free fall of 30 meters. To send us there is irresponsible. And I cannot imagine that anything about the road will change before the Tour.”