Daniel Martínez on Coppa Sabatini win: "I felt in good shape and it’s a great result"

Daniel Martínez endured a disappointing Tour de France which followed a very successful season. The Colombian is however riding back into form, and got back to his winning ways yesterday at the Coppa Sabatini.

"Today was a really hard day - with the rain at the beginning and the parcours, up and down, it was really tough. With 100km to go the teams started to attack. The whole team did a really good job today," Martínez said after the stage now. "They were pulling and creating small gaps. In the final I tried to do the maximum".

As was the case in the Giro della Toscana, Martínez found himself in the winning move. It once again came down to a sprint between five riders, but with uphill gradients this one favoured the Colombian more. "Yesterday in the final I had cramps but today it was much better. When I saw Vlasov attack it was very dangerous for us. I waited and gave it everything on the final climb. At the end there were four or five riders for the sprint," he said.

"I felt in good shape and it’s a great result. I’ve lived not far from here for three years and I know the roads really well. It’s a good victory for my family and all my friends in Tuscany," he concluded. Martínez will also be present in the upcoming Memorial Marco Pantani where he should be a favourite, and he will be hinting at Il Lombardia with the form he's building.