Dan Martin was considered one of the biggest favorites to take a victory at the first mountaintop finish of the 2014 Vuelta a Espana, but his performance had to be hugely disappointing for those who had seen his strong showings in opening stages of the Spanish event. Despite losing time at La Zubia due to overheating, however, the Garmin-Sharp leader remained hopeful about his GC chances.

Martin’s below-par performance at La Zubia came as a surprise as the Irishman was one of the most aggressive general classification contenders in opening stages and gave strong indications of being in a good disposition. The 27-year old Irishman eventually finished Thursday’s stage 59 seconds down on Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), but claimed that it had more to do with scorching heat than infernal pace dictated by the Spaniard on the final climb.

“I felt really good until two kilometres to go and then the lights just went out. I was overheated, I think,” Martin told Cyclingnews. “I’m a bit gutted because the guys rode all day for me and I’m in good form, but I just got a bit hot.”

“I don’t want to make excuses because I just didn’t have the legs yesterday,” he said. “It was a strange feeling when I started the climb, and my body just stopped working with 2k to go.”

“I had a kilometre riding a bit easier but I came back strong in the last kilometre,” Martin said. “It’s a small time loss, and we’re going north now so hopefully the conditions will be a bit better for me.”

In such circumstances, Martin remains hopeful about his chances for a decent result in the Vuelta a Espana general classification, as the temperatures are expected to drop when the peloton moves up north.  

“It’s not as steep as yesterday, I think, and the temperatures should be a bit lower so we’ll have a go again,” Martin said. “It remains to be seen how far I can go in the GC role but we’ll give it our best shot.

“Hopefully that minute lost yesterday will count very little when we’re into the final week. I gave it my best shot and I wasn’t good enough, that’s just the way it goes.”