Dan Martin slams 'chaotic' Vuelta a Espana finale
Ireland’s Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) has criticised the finale of stage 7 of the Vuelta a España, which featured a high number of mechanical incidents, crashes and punctures, as “just chaos".
The Irishman, who is not fighting for the overall title, was wrongly described as suffering a mechanical on one of the more difficult descents at the finish.
In fact, he lost four and a half minutes after trying to shepherd home the team’s sprinter, Simone Consonni.
"We’ve been riding on these beautiful roads all day and then the last 15 kilometres it’s just chaos," Martin fumed.
"Obviously it’s good for television but it’s not nice to ride on. I just hope that the guys who were affected by the crashes are ok and that the mechanicals didn’t affect the race too much."
Martin said that the final segment of climbing over a third category climb near the finish at Pozo Alcon, followed by a spectacular - but twisting and poorly surfaced - descent, had been the worst.
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