Martínez crashed early in Stage 2, then fell again during the descent from the Col d'Eze. He managed to return to the peloton with the assistance of teammate Hugh Carthy, but then slipped away on the final climb of the day.
He finished in 48th position, three minutes and 38 seconds behind race winner Julian Alaphilippe dealing his general classification ambitions a hefty blow early in the race.
“I’m feeling really disappointed after today, I fell twice, once at the beginning of the Col de Turini and the other time on the descent closer towards the finish line," said Martínez. "The first fall hurt more because it felt a bit harder even though the second one I was going faster, but I just slid out.
"But the doctor has said that everything is ok, I have a bit of pain in the knee, it’s a little bit swollen, but it’s normal, I’m just hoping that it recovers quickly over the next few days.”
Charlie Wegelius, EF Education First Sports Director, talked about Martínez's fall in the context of two hard stages to begin the 2020 edition of the Tour de France.
“Obviously it was another extremely intense day, said Wegelius. "Very, very hard start to the Tour this year. It seems that every day is being raced like a one-day classic. Unfortunately, Dani Martínez fell down twice. The second time he managed to come back to the group, but I think the chase cost him quite a bit of energy. Let’s hope that’s he’s in good shape and that he can continue.”
Stage 3 goes through hilly terrain before a flat finish in Sisteron. Catch all the action from 8.00pm AEST on SBS On Demand and the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker, with the TV coverage starting at 9.30pm AEST.
