A clearly devastated Dan Martin greets some Irish fans after his cruel mishap yesterday when he had the race win in his hands.
Within 150 metres of winning his second consecutive Liège–Bastogne–Liège yesterday, Dan Martin fell on the final corner and his chances evaporated.
All he could do was pick himself up and limp to the finish line just up the road, for 39th place.
Our photos of him here capture the mood perfectly.
Above, the great champion that he is; Martin is mustering the willingness from somewhere to meet some Irish fans just moments after his devastating fall on the last corner.
And below, his thousand-yard stare and ripped jersey as he comes over the line tell of the devastation of a man who’s just been in the wars and will perhaps take a little longer than usual to bounce back mentally afterwards.
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His next goal is the Giro d’Italia. And having taken second at Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday and been there at the death yesterday he’s clearly in terrific form for the tests ahead.
“The team rode a beautiful race today,” he said after his disappointment.
“We did everything right and they gave everything for me all day. I hit a patch of something on the road. I don't know exactly what happened.
“It was like falling out of a tree - and down I went. Before I knew it, it was over. I think there were tears in my eyes before I hit the floor. I'm just so sorry.
“I know in my heart we did everything we could have to get me where I needed to be. I'm heartbroken I couldn't deliver the win for the team.
“But I'm proud of how they rode for me and of Tom finishing 6th. We'll just have to come back next year and try again.”
Have a look in the first clip below at the last 1km of the race yesterday and make up your mind as to whether he would have won.
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We think he had it in the bag; falling with just 150 metres to go and at that point enjoying a gap of a couple of seconds on eventual winner Simon Gerrans (the luckiest man since Ringo Star – Ed).
We’ve also included a clip of the last 20kms just in case you missed the finale live yesterday.
No words are needed: Martin's thousand yard stare as he comes over the line for 39th place in Liège–Bastogne–Liège says it all (Photo: Sirotti)
Here's the last kilometre, with Martin's crash
Here's the last 20km
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