Dan Martin still riding for general classification at Giro d'Italia | Sticky Bottle

Victor Campenaerts of Qhubeka Assos wins today's Giro stage 15, held on a circuit race course, after he and Oscar Riesebeek of Alpecin-Fenix pulled clear of the other breakaway men. They were over 17 minutes up on the peloton on the line (Photo: Gian Mattia D'Alberto)

Dan Martin's Israel Start-Up Nation team has indicated the Irishman is still riding for general classification at the Giro d'Italia with the aim of making the top 10.

Today's wet stage 15 saw Martin move up one place to 12th overall, having been down in 18th after stage 11. And his team said he was edging back towards the top 10 overall, suggesting that was the team's goal for him on this race.

"Dan Martin, hunting for a good result in the general classification, finished, with the full support of his teammates, in the peloton," the team said after the stage today. "And that’s most important, especially now that Martin is getting closer and closer to the top-10."

It certainly appears that Martin's team is prioritising a top 10 finish overall for him, rather than the plan to lose more time and have better stage-win prospects.

Martin rode very well on stages 6 and 9, when the front of the race split and he gained small amounts of time on most of his rivals for the overall. At the start of stage 11, featuring the long gravel sections, he was 8th overall.

That left him just 52 seconds off the race leader and he was also only 30 seconds off the podium; a realistic goal for him as he finished in 4th place overall at La Vuelta last year. However, on stage 11 last week he lost minutes and fell down the GC. He slipped to 18th and was left 7:06 down on race leader Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

*The Slovenian fans packed the course today, with a very impressive show of flags (Photo: Fabio Ferrari)*

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Martin said before yesterday's stage he was in "no man's land". He explained he was no longer really in the general classification fight. The Irishman added he also wasn't so far down overall that he might get some leeway to go in the breakaways and search for a stage win.

Despite that, Martin opted to ride hard on Monte Zoncolan yesterday rather than lose time and be so far back overall he would get that leeway to go up the road in the last week of the race.

After yesterday's stage he was up to 13th overall and after today's stage 15 he is now 12th overall as Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe), who was 6th overall this morning, abandoned the race today after crashing. And Martin's team clearly believes he can climb into the top 10 and wants him to target that.

Ineos Grenadiers lead home the peloton today. It was a day when the breakaway raced ahead and everyone else was just happy to get the stage done before a big day tomorrow (Photo: Gian Mattia D'Alberto)

Dan Martin finished today's stage in the 80-rider peloton over 17 minutes down on stage winner Victor Campenaerts (Qhubeka ASSOS). The Belgian claimed victory after a large breakaway dominated the 147km stage into Gorizia.

Nicolas Roche (Team DSM) was also in the peloton today. He is riding the race in support of team leader Romain Bardet. The team's other leader - last year's Giro runner-up Jai Hindley - has had to abandon due to a saddle sore.

Today's stage 15 was halted for a period after a large crash just after the start, with many riders falling and suffering nasty injuries. The racing was really on at the time as riders were attacking in a bid to make the breakaway. However, while the race was halted for a period to allow riders receive medical attention, it re-started after about 20 minutes.