Irishman confirms that he’ll be targeting Vuelta a España and world championships
Tour de France stage winner Dan Martin has indicated that he is doubtful for this Saturday’s Clásica San Sebastián due to the illness which hit him in the final week of the Tour.
The Irishman came down with a suspected virus and dropped from tenth overall after last Wednesday’s time trial to 33rd place at the race conclusion in Paris on Sunday.
He told VeloNation today that his Garmin-Sharp team is still to make a final call on it, but that his participation is not likely.
Martin became the first Irish stage winner in 21 years when he outsprinted Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) to the line at the end of stage nine to Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
He was looking good for a place in the top ten overall, but then became ill with a chest problem and dropped down the general classification.
Martin remains upbeat despite that, saying that he is convinced he can return to the Tour next year and fight for a high general classification finish.
While some of those who focussed on the Tour will end their seasons early, Martin will carry on competing. San Sebastián looks doubtful, but he has indicated that he could do some one day races after that.
“I might make an appearance at a couple of the post-Tour crits. It hasn’t been negotiated yet, but I’d like to do some, just for the fun factor,” he said.
“I did one after Liege and it was a great atmosphere and really good fun. So it would be nice to be able to race - in inverted commas - in a relaxed atmosphere. But we will see.”
Beyond that, he has clear targets for the remainder of the season.
“The plan was to do the Vuelta if I wasn’t finishing completely destroyed at the Tour. I’m not destroyed – okay, I was sick, but that has probably even helped me for the Vuelta as I haven’t been able to go as deep as I would have done. So I am definitely going to be racing there.
“I have ambitions there…with this team, we never go to any race without ambitions. I will be treating it the same way as I did this race, chasing stages. We will be going there with a strong team. There’s something like eleven mountain top finishes, so there are plenty of opportunities. And with the worlds on a tough course, that’s a major target too.”