Dan Martin has the final podium of
La Vuelta firmly on his mind as the race is almost at the halfway point and he
rode like his life depended on it today.
Up the final climb to summit finish
of today’s stage 8, atop Alto de Moncalvillo after 164kn, Martin rode
himself to a standstill as these photos of him collapsed after the finish show.
Race leader Richard Carapaz (Ineos Carapaz) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) slugged it out over the final 1km of the race; attacking and counter attacking until Roglic got clear to win.
Carapaz crossed the line just 13 seconds after stage winner Roglic, with six more seconds elapsing before an exhausted Martin finished; in 3rd place on the day to retain his 3rd overall.
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The Irishman had attacked pressed the pace earlier on the
climb and though Roglic and Carapaz had more in the tank at the finish, Ireland’s
Martin limited his losses using his grunt as much as his class.
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The stage 3 winner promptly collapsed off the bike after
the finish line and onto the tarmac, laying down on the road to gather himself
after a superhuman effort.
“It was another really challenging
stage. When the break went, I didn’t expect to be fighting for the stage
victory but obviously Ineos and Movistar had different ideas – the pace was on
all day,” said Martin.
“I felt good on the last climb and
decided to test the other guys. I paid for that effort a little in the end and
when Primoz attacked in the last kilometer I had no response.
“At that point it was about getting
to the finish line as fast as possible. I gave it everything I had, and we are
really proud of the performance.
“It’s another difficult stage behind us and we have a different challenge ahead over the next two days just to stay out of trouble. We need to try to recover a bit before the incredibly difficult weekend."
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