Dan Martin has finished 16th in the Olympic road race in Tokyo today. He said the Irish team had ridden a great race up to the penultimate climb where he lacked the last bit of power to make the key selection.
When the race split on that climb - Mikuni Pass - and over the top of it, about 15 riders were still at the front and in contention, with Martin in the first chasing group behind the leaders.
Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) and Brandon McNulty (USA) attacked the front group with about 25km to go. Carapaz then dropped McNulty with just under 6km to go and won the race solo. McNulty was caught by the seven-man chasing group.
Wout van Aert (Belgium) won the sprint for silver from the chasing group, with Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) taking bronze; the chasers some 1:07 down on Carapaz. Ireland's Martin was in a group some 3:38 down on the winner, placing 16th.
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“It wasn’t as hard as we expected but then on the steep climb, the sun was just beating down and you were just cooked, you know," an exhausted Dan Martin said after the finish of the 233km race suited to climbers.
“It was 6½ hours out there today and it was brutal. Obviously the first two hours were a bit cagey, the teams were, like, playing poker a little bit," Martin said.
“But once the race really started the speed went up
really quickly and it was just a war of attrition as we expected.”
Asked why the race was not quite as brutal as expected,
Martin laughed a little and said: “I thought the start might have been a bit
harder.
“Normally here it’s a bit hotter at this time of year and
I think we were very fortunate with this cloud cover. It’s probably the coolest
day we’ve had this week even though, as you can see, I’m covered in salt.
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“But we (Ireland) did a great job. Nico (Roche)… I think that’s the best I’ve ever seen the Irish team ride. We did a perfect race, I just didn’t have the legs when it mattered."
Dan Martin continued: “I don’t know what (my) result is but we did our best so we have to be happy. It’s a strange week, it didn’t really feel like the Olympics.
“We’ve just been in the race hotel all week. But then
obviously watching the opening ceremony last night, that’s when the magnitude
of the occasion really hit me.
“It’s still special to be here and obviously we are quite fortunate to be one of the events that has the public as well. It was a really special day, it was 6½ hours but it flew by, it was a really special race.
"It was super-hot there and I just missed a couple of seconds to be in that front selection that was fighting for the medals. We did a perfect race today in my opinion.
"I wouldn’t change anything that we did today and that’s a really nice feeling coming out of an Olympic Road race knowing that we all did our best.
"Nico did a great job of keeping me positioned and safe the whole way along and we had staff the whole way along giving us bottles. It really was a great team effort."
Martin said he had been at home for three weeks of the last 14 weeks, away from his wife and twin girls, and he was looking forward to going home on the flight tomorrow.
“It’s a pity it’s not with a medal, that’s what we came here for, but we did our best and I know they’re proud at home and it’s going to be nice to be home again.”
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