Martin undergoing further assessment today, surgery likely on fractured collarbone

One day after he crashed out of the Giro d’Italia, Dan Martin is completing the journey from the North of Ireland to Dublin in a very different manner than was originally envisaged. The Garmin Sharp rider was due to race between Armagh and Dublin tomorrow on stage three of the race, but instead he is travelling one day sooner than that via car, with an appointment with a shoulder surgeon to follow later today.

CyclingTips has learned that both Martin and his team-mate Koldo Fernandez will be seen by the surgeon later this afternoon, after which the next course of action will be decided. It is thought likely that Martin will undergo surgery to repair his clavicle rather than having the bone moved back into place and allowed heal without intervention.

Fernandez came down in the same crash yesterday and while he was able to remount and reach the finish, it became clear afterwards that he had suffered a similar injury to his Irish team-mate.

It is not yet clear when Martin will be able to return to training, but with the Tour de France starting 57 days from now, it would seem possible that he will take part in that race. Otherwise, the Vuelta a España looks set to be on his programme.

Reacting to the crash, Martin’s Garmin Sharp team-mate Ryder Hesjedal said yesterday that he and the rest of the team would try to pick things up after the team time trial disappointment.

“You never want to see something like this happen,” he stated in a team statement. “Right now, I’m just concerned for my teammates, Koldo and Dan, and I’m especially sad for Dan. I know how much it meant to him to be racing here, and how much this race meant to him. But with that comes motivation for the rest of the guys here.

“We will regroup and refocus – we have a strong team here and we’re fighters. We will look for opportunities for the rest of the race and do everything we can to make Dan and Koldo proud. We may be down, but don’t count us out. These are moments that we will use as motivation to push us forward.”

Hesjedal won the race two years ago, but his chances of taking a repeat victory were hampered yesterday by the time lost by the team after the crash. He and the other riders ended the day three minutes and 26 seconds back. According to team directeur sportif Charly Wegelius, Garmin-Sharp will do its utmost to create fireworks in the weeks ahead.

“We came in with two leaders, Dan and Ryder, and a strong team built to support them and give us options through out the race. We still have a strong team and we have Ryder, who’s already won here. It’s heartbreak for Dan in particular, we all know how much this meant to him, but that gives us motivation,” he said.

“We’ll keep fighting forward. These guys are not just teammates, they are good friends and we’ll all use this as motivation for the next three weeks to shake up the race and create opportunities for ourselves.”