"The hardest part of the Giro is still to come" - Daniel Martinez rises to 2nd overall at Giro d'Italia after strong time-trial showing

Apart from Tadej Pogacar, who was again on another level, Daniel Martinez was one of the most impressive riders on the stage 7 individual time-trial at the Giro d'Italia, rising to 2nd overall in the process.

The Colombian BORA - hansgrohe rider finished eighth in the time trial, 1:49 behind the Slovenian, but beat podium rivals Geraint Thomas, Ben O'Connor, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Einer Rubio, Juan Pedro Lopez, and many more. This also allowed him to rise to second overall, ahead of the INEOS Grenadiers leader, 2:36 behind Pogacar.

At the end of the stage, the 28-year-old rider spoke to the race microphones, analysing how the day had gone and how he had felt personally. "Well, it was a pretty long time trial. Well, the sensations are good, we gave our best and well, we're still here in the Giro," reflected Martinez. "It was quite windy from the side, let's say it wasn't an easy time trial because at the end we had this climb and we had to keep enough strength to finish it off well," he added, assessing the difficulties faced by the last riders to start.

Finally, he did not want to get carried away after seven days of racing, warning that there are still two weeks and very hard stages left: "Yes, yes, yes, yes, there is still a lot of Giro left, so we are thinking day by day, taking it, so well, as I said, there is still the hardest part of the Giro".