Dan Martin has said his victory on stage 3 of La Vuelta today meant a huge amount to him as it was the first race he had won since his twin girls were born.
After Irish fans were delighted to see Sam Bennett's high emotion when he took his first Tour de France stage win this year, Martin struck a similar tone today.
He said he was delighted to win for himself and his team mates and also to re-pay his Israel Start Up Nation team owners, who had supported all its riders through the lock-down, not cutting their salaries and keeping them motivated.
The 35-year-old rider had not won a race since his stage victory at the 2018 Tour de France and he left the Vuelta early that year when it looked like the birth of his twins was imminent.
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Clearly the stress of this season, his injury earlier in the year when he fractured a bone in his back, and the thoughts of his wife and children were overwhelming today; a day when he put to bed any suggestions that he was a spent force in big time pro cycling.
He won the stage ahead of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) atop the climb of La Laguna Negra-Vinuesa after he started his sprint from the front of the select group and nobody could get around him.
He adds today's win to two 3rd places on the opening two stages and is also 2nd overall and 2nd in the points classification. He will wear the points jersey again tomorrow as Roglic leads that classification but will wear the race leader's jersey.
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