Dan Martin has said he was very pleased with his 3rd place on stage 1 of La Vuelta, when he gained time on almost all of his general classification rivals.
Martin made the front group as the race hit the mountains on the delayed opening stage of the race. At the finish he was beaten only by Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), who attacked with 1km to go, and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers).
Martin is now 3rd overall just seven seconds down race leader Roglic after what was a brilliant opening stage.
“The team did a great job. It’s been the first time I’ve been riding with most of these guys and they did a fantastic job,” Dan Martin said.
“I’m happy with how I’m feeling. I’m
surprised how good I’m feeling. It’s a good start.
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“It was a tough day
to start a Grand Tour, and you can see that with the gaps in the finish.
“The team did a
great job of protecting me all day, and I had perfect legs. There was a pretty
strong headwind on the last climb, so it was a game of cat and mouse.
“Primoz was just
too strong in the end when he attacked, but I’m happy to be in the fight, and I
hope the good legs stay with me so we can fight for a stage in the next days.”
Riders like Valverde suffered a shock to the system as the race jumped straight into the mountains in stage 1 after what should have been the opening three stages in the Netherlands being cancelled due to Covid-19 (Photo: Luis Angel Gomez)
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