Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) was one of a number of riders who crashed on yesterday’s 181-kilometre eighth stage of the Tour de France from Dreux to Amiens. He came down with 16 kilometres remaining and lost time to other GC contenders.
He has since questioned whether a number of crashes have been due to the use of disc brakes as he tweeted afterwards: “Many of the crashes @LeTour have been caused by guys in front braking, the guys behind not being able to stop. Rider error perhaps, but it’s also the 1st TDF where disc brakes are in wide use. The real cause?”
Commenting on today’s stage to Roubaix, Martin tweeted: “As for me, I woke up better than expected but far from ideal. Still excited for my @Paris_Roubaix experience. Will surely be a memorable stage just hope the carnage doesn’t continue.”
The crash left Martin two minutes behind the lead riders and a number of UAE Teams Emirates’ domestiques helped Martin to try and close the gap but he still crossed the line 1’16” down.
Subsequent X-rays revealed no fractures for the Irish rider. Martin now sits in 31st place overall, 2’47” down on race leader Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing).
UAE Team Emirates’ Physician, Doctor Angelucci, reported: “X-rays reported no fractures for Martin. He suffered a lumbar trauma and superficial wounds on the lumbar zone, as well as some grazing on his left elbow and back”.
Commenting on the crash Dan Martin said: “Obviously I’ve felt better but it could have been a lot worse. It was just a case of wrong place, wrong time. There was a break ahead of us, someone moved across and took my front wheel away. I couldn’t do anything about it. I know the time loss isn’t the best thing, but the guys did a great job of bringing me back up. Thankfully nothing is broken, so now I need to focus on tomorrow’s stage, survive the cobblestones and then we’ll see how things are after the rest day. I’ve already won a stage and as I’ve said – anything else is just a bonus.”
