Dan Martin: I never thought I would sprint against those guys
Jul 04 2017 02:27 am CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSQuickStep Floors rider Daniel Martin was satisfied with his third place on day three of the Tour de France, finishing the sprint in Longwy only behind Peter Sagan and Michael Matthews.
With this result, Martin gained a few seconds on his rivals for the General Classification and moved into 15th place in the standings. The Irishman reasoned that in order to avoid losing time, it is best to go for the stage win.
"That's what I tried today and I'm really happy with how it went," Martin said on QuickStep's official website.
"I found the first part of the climb not so hard, but things changed once Richie (Porte) attacked and lined out the peloton. The sprint was very long and I knew it was very important to bide your time. So I sat on Matthews' wheel and launched my sprint when I sensed everybody was in the red.
"I never thought I would sprint against those guys, so to get this result at the end of such a hard day makes me very happy and confident. A big shout out to my teammates, who did everything to bring me in the best position for this finish," he concluded.
