Dan Martin's Tour de France began with a steady ride in the Utrecht time trial on Saturday but the Irishman's focus is already been dialled in on the road race stages and especially stage 3, which finishes atop the Mur de Huy in Belgium.
"It's the old cliché but you really have to take it day-by-day. I can't start thinking about Monday because I could end up in a ditch first. We have the best team possible for the flat stages in order to protect us. This group has been together since the Dauphiné and every day we're gelling more and more. I'm confident that they'll get us to mountains in one piece and still in contention. That's when the GC race starts proper."
Daniel Benson is the Managing Editor at Cyclingnews. Based in the UK, he coordinates the global coverage for the website. Having joined Cyclingnews in April 2008, he has covered several Tour de France, the Spring Classics, and the London Olympic Games in 2012.