Dan Martin suffers major loss in Giro d'Italia GC battle

Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) at the finish of stage 9
Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) at the finish of stage 9 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

A tough day for Ireland's Dan Martin on the off-road sections of stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday saw the Israel Start-Up Nation leader lose over six minutes on overall leader Egan Bernal and with it a considerable part of his GC options in the race.

Previously lying eighth overall and a strong finisher on the climbs in the Giro's first week, Martin had insisted after stage six that he had no specific goals in this year's Giro other than making it to Milan.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.