It was a day of celebration for UAE Team Emirates at the Tour de France as not only did Alexander Kristoff win the final stage, but Dan Martin also picked up the award for the most combative rider of the Tour.
The award followed on from several attacking performances across key mountain stages. In addition, the Irish rider also won the sixth stage from Brest to Mûr de Bretagne Guerlédan on his way to finishing eighth overall.
Dan Martin said: “This is an amazing moment. What a magical place to be, with the Arc du Triomphe in the background and the Champs Elysees in front of us. It’s all just starting to sink in now. It’s always special finishing the Tour, but even more so today. I have really enjoyed this year’s race and I’m a bit gutted it’s over. So now I am just looking forward to next year even more.”
Commenting on his ambitions, Martin continued: “I’m not sure if I jinxed myself before this edition by saying that my ambition was to get through without crashing and having bad luck because it happened again. That said, I race the way I race and I still think a podium is possible. I just need to piece that perfect performance together.
“It isn’t all about bad luck, it’s about being in the right place at the right time and I think you make your own good luck a lot of the time. You learn every year you ride the Tour and I’ll take those lessons to next year because I want to end up standing on that podium on merit.”
