Dan Martin has admitted it may be difficult to gain selection for the Garmin-Sharp Tour de France team because of the broken collarbone injury he sustained during the first stage of the 2014 Giro d’Italia.

“I can’t race until six weeks after the operation,” he said, referring to the collarbone surgery he had on May 11th. “That would mean going to the Tour with just the national championships in my legs. We’ll see how the fitness is going and who knows; we will leave that book open at the moment. It is the Tour so everybody wants to go there. But obviously everybody needs to go there in the best condition possible. So it is the team’s decision, and we will make that closer to the time,” he told Stickybottle.

Despite the obvious difficulties the injury has caused him, he is not letting it get him down and he is already plotting himself some targets for later in the season.

“I’m definitely going to make a full recovery and will hopefully be back winning races in no time,” he stated.

“I think my next race will be the national championships. I haven’t ridden for a couple of years now but it is difficult when you are riding the Tour de France to ride the nationals.

“This year I definitely want to ride and try to win the green and white jersey. It was a really special season when I wore it in 2008/2009. To wear the green of Ireland in every race, all year round, would be incredible. It is definitely a big aim.

“Obviously I will be a bit ring rusty after not racing for eight weeks. But we will see. I will give it my best shot and I will try to be national champion this year.”

Regardless of a Tour spot, Martin’s key objective is riding the Vuelta a Espana, which he will use to build up towards the World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, on the other side of the country where he resides in Girona.

“Being world champion would be an incredible way to finish off what has been a bad year so far,” he said.

“Hopefully good luck is going to come my way. The world championships this year is on a really good course for me and hopefully it will put a bit of a positive spin on these crashes at the start of the year.

“It will mean I will be a lot fresher than anybody else come September and I will give it my best shot of being world champion.”