Martin & Barcelona still synonymous with bad luck

The final stage of the Volta a Catalunya, Barcelona-Barcelona (143.1km), was not fortunate for Daniel Martin for the second consecutive year.
Last season, the UAE Team Emirates rider was involved in a fall on the Montjuic circuit and it was the same situation today, with the Irish cyclist drifting back due to a crash that broke the main group at 40km from the finish line.

Martin (photo), who started this morning in 5th position overall, ended up on the ground and, after replacing his bike, had to pursue the other stars. But it was too much. He didn’t get much help from the other riders and, even with the great support from his team-mates, he lost time.

Daniel Martin: “We raced well throughout the week, today, I felt I had great legs and entering the Montjuic circuit, I tried to save as much energy as possible to try to improve my placing overall. Unfortunately, I was involved in the crash: a bike hit my leg, I got back up, but I couldn’t pedal for two or three kilometres, so my race was virtually over“.

Sports Director Neil Stephens: “It’s really a shame: this morning we started with Daniel in fifth position and with the desire to fight for more. We had a lot of bad luck, after the crash, we tried to gain ground back, but nothing was possible. We are very sorry for the team, for all our riders who committed themselves throughout the week and for all our fans who have followed us in this race “.

Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the race and Miguel Angel López (Team Astana) took the overall crown.

Stage 7 results
1 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-hansgrohe 3h19’41”
2 Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck-Quick Step 51″
3 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-hansgrohe 53″

Overall general classification
1 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana 29h14’17”
2 Adam Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott 14″
3 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 17″