Monday 30 July 2018 08:48, UK
Dan Martin admits to being a little surprised after confirmation that he has been crowned the most combative rider at the Tour de France.
The Irishman, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, will be on the podium in Paris on Sunday alongside the yellow, green, white and polka dot jersey winners.
Martin bounced back from a nasty fall on stage eight, which left him with gruesome injuries on his back, to continue to put in moves during the mountain stages, albeit unable to convert any of them and add to his win on the Mur de Bretagne earlier in the race.
"I'm not sure anybody's ever won it without winning it on a single day, but I just try my best every day," Martin said.
"I've always wanted to be on the podium in Paris but I didn't think I'd do it that way.
"It might look like I'm attacking to entertain but it's just my racing instinct. It's always calculated, it's always to try to get a result or it's tactics-based. But I'm happy that people like the way I race."
Martin was said to have cried out in pain when he tried to shower after stage eight, and he said on Saturday that he might post pictures of the injuries he suffered, something he had purposely hidden when they happened.
"Maybe we'll release in the coming days some images of how much that affected me," he added.
"It looks like I've been shot. I've got a hole in my back that's probably going to take another two weeks to heal.
"Unfortunately it's another Tour of what could have been. But it's been memorable with the crashes and the stage win. It's great to just be here."
