DAN MARTIN REMAINED in a state of disbelief after completing his set of victories at all three Grand Tours with a sensational ride at the traditionally epic stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia.
The 34-year-old powered home at the end of a a 193km journey from Canazei to a summit finish in Sega di Ala, keeping Portugal’s Joao Almeida and Britain’s Simon Yates at bay to seal his first ever Giro stage success.
In an arguably career-best ride, Martin led and won it from the breakaway, finishing the stage with a time of 4h:54:38, with Almeida 13 seconds behind and Yates coming in third at 30″.
#Replay 🎥 / #Giro104 🇮🇹
— Renaud Breban (@RenaudB31) May 26, 2021
Quelle victoire de 🇮🇪 Dan Martin (ISN) qui arrache son premier succès sur le Tour d’Italie et réalise le tryptique "vainqueur d’étape sur les trois GT". 🍀pic.twitter.com/fwdkyewm2V
The Birmingham-born rider, who represents Ireland through his Irish mother, had previously won four Grand Tour stages — two at the Tour de France and two at the Vuelta. But he more than survived the monstrous climb to Sega di Ala, glancing backwards and shaking his head in apparent shock before raising his arms as he crossed the line to become only the 102nd ever rider to have won a stage at all three major races.
“I had information from Nicki [Sorensen, director] the whole climb,” Martin told Eurosport following his stage win. “I knew what was going on and I knew from the recon I did of the climb that I just needed to get to 2k to go.
I rode a good tempo and really went full-gas, then, with 2k to go because I knew if they were coming close, I could kill the morale.
“It wasn’t until the end that I went really all-in.
I think the shake of the head, there, at the end really says I didn’t believe it was happening… I still can’t believe it’s happening.
“The race has been a rollercoaster for us as a team,” continued the Israel Start-Up Nation rider. “We lost Chris [Froome] on the first day. We had some really good saviours — a lot of seconds, thirds, some podiums. And then we lost ‘Dema’ (Alessandro De Marchi); we had Dema in the pink jersey and then we had Dema crash out. Alex [Dowsett] got sick. But our team spirit is amazing, we’ve had a great team atmosphere. And that showed this morning.
VICTORY!
— Israel Start-Up Nation / Israel Cycling Academy (@TeamIsraelSUN) May 26, 2021
And our bus turned into a party bus!!!
DAN MARTIN wins stage 17 in the #Giro and here is the team staff’s reaction!#YallaISN pic.twitter.com/dzjebIeKyY
“We had a plan to put me in the breakaway and everybody worked for that. Everybody played a part in this.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen for me with the strong headwind. The headwind killed the speed of the breakaway and killed our legs but somehow, I managed to hang on.”
Asked if he felt he had made a bit of history in completing a hat-trick of sorts by winning an elusive Giro stage, Martin beamed:
Aw, that’s what I came here for, you know? To try and win a stage. I knew that today was one of my last opportunities and that, with the extra time I lost the day before the rest day, it was possible to go in the breakaway. To do it… It’s just incredible.
