Dan Martin finished second on today’s stage in Tour de l’Ain after the French winner Julian Alaphilippe of Omega Pharma - QuickStep. The placement on the last stage of the race consolidated his third place in the French race after Bert-Jan Lindeman and Romain Bardet.

Martin praises Alaphilippe for his way to make a powerful attack at the end of the stage. But he also says he didn’t have the legs in the final to follow Alaphilippe after his own attack.

“In the book it said it was a steep and narrow decent, but in fact it was a straight line. With the group behind, it was impossible to stay in front. Alaphilippe rode very well. As soon as I returned, he attacks and I do not have the legs to follow. I did my best. I attacked because I was not sure of beating Alaphilippe in the sprint because I knew it was going really fast. I'm happy. Every day I feel better. The first day I went wrong, but now I do well. For the Vuelta, it's great. I'm happy. I want to finish everything before! That's two big tours I fall! I want to finish the Vuelta, where we'll see,” Martin said to DirectVelo.