Daniel Martínez is confident he can regain second place overall: "Now the hardest part of the Giro is ahead"

Daniel Martinez finished 14th in the second and final time trial of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, 1:45 behind the day's winner Filippo Ganna. This result condemned him to lose 2nd place in the classification, which was snatched from him by Geraint Thomas after the Welshman gained 31 seconds over Martinez on the stage.

However, it was less time than it might have seemed before the start, and the BORA - hansgrohe rider is now just 15 seconds behind his former teammate in the general classification. After finishing his race against the clock, the Colombian gave his feelings and immediate reaction to Cycling Pro Net.

"A very hard, technical and too flat time trial. Geraint in this type of time trial performs much better, he's practically a specialist for that, so let's say that the balance has been positive. I don't know what the difference in the overall is yet, but well, I gave it my all and now the hardest and the best part of the Giro is ahead," Martinez analyses.

The hardest part of the Giro will begin this Sunday, May 19, with a brutal stage, including three hellish mountain passes, where the Passo del Mortirolo stands out, one of the most mythical peaks in Italian cycling. Next week will be the last week of the race, with four days for the climbers, highlighting especially two summit finishes, stage 16 on Tuesday and stage 17 on Wednesday.

Regarding the riders who may try to fight him off the podium, Martinez will have to watch out for Ben O'Connor, who has shown great form in the time trial and is only 39 seconds behind the Colombian, and Antonio Tiberi, the leader of the youth classification, who is 1:21 behind the 28-year-old climber and is going from strength to strength in the race.