Dan Martin has said he only realised late in the Tour de France that his crash had undermined his ability to climb better.
Irish rider Dan Martin still believes he can finish in the top three at the Tour de France.
And he also believed his crash on stage 8 hit his condition much harder than he initially thought.
Martin crashed with about 16.5km to go on. As a result he lost 1:15.
Having also lost time four days later on the climb of Alpe d’Huez, Martin now believes his crash undermined his performance on the mountain.
But ultimately he was happy to be on the podium yesterday after winning the most combative rider award on the Tour.
“This is an amazing moment. What a magical place to be, with the Arc du Triumph in the background and the Champs Elysees in front of us,” he said.
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“It’s all just starting to sink in now. It’s always special finishing the Tour, but even more so today.
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“I have really enjoyed this year’s race and I’m a bit gutted it’s over. So now I am just looking forward to next year even more.”
He said it wasn’t until last Friday’s stage that he realised how much the crash had affected his performance on Alpe d’Huez.
“I just didn’t have any power to do it. I didn’t realise at the time, but it was the crash that caused that,” he said.
“I’m never one to look back and I think I just need to take it as a positive for the years to come. I’ve not got many years left but it shows what’s possible in the future.
“I’m not sure if I jinxed myself before this edition by saying that my ambition was to get through without crashing and having bad luck because it happened again.
“That said, I race the way I race. I still think a podium is possible. I just need to piece that perfect performance together.
“It’s not all about bad luck. It’s also about being in the right place at the right time.
“I think you make your own good luck a lot of the time. You learn every year you ride the Tour.
“And I’ll take those lessons to next year because I want to end up standing on that podium on merit.”
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