Dan Martin has said his ride on the stage 13 TT at La Vuelta yesterday was “one of my best TTs ever” and believed “the podium is within reach”.
Martin was 13th in the 33.7km test, some 1:17 off stage winner, and new race leader, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma).
That result means
Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) stays in 4th place overall and while the three
men ahead of him in the general standings gained time on him yesterday, the
time loss was not massive.
He is now 1:42 off Roglic, some 1:03 off 2nd placed Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and is now 55 seconds off Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) who is 3rd overall.
“We are still in the fight for the GC, so we need to be happy,” said Martin. “Of course, it’s not going to be easy to take back time. But we never expected to be in this position.
Advertisement
Related News
“I must thank the team staff today as they have all made
a considerable effort to put us in this position.
“I gave it
everything I had and rode a good pace on the flat. My rivals did incredibly,
and you’ve got to give them credit.
“Now we will look for opportunities over the coming days
to see what we can do to improve our position.”
Martin’s sports
director Oscar Guerrero believes the Irish cyclist now has a real chance of
making the first Grand Tour podium of his career.
“This will be our goal for the rest of the Vuelta – to fight for 3rd place. And I believe it can be done,” he said.
Topics
