Martin: my gut instinct was to attack

Cannondale-Garmin's Dan Martin scored his second runner-up spot in this Tour de France but will keep seeking that elusive stage victory.

Always the bridesmaid? Dan Martin was runner-up on a stage for the second time this race. Source: Getty Images

Martin took second on Stage 11 to Cauterets-Vallee de Saint-Savins with an attack on the Col d'Aspin to join the break of the day and a late surge on the final climb to finish a minute behind stage winner Rafal Majka.

Martin said that his initial bridge to the breakaway, at that point nearly four minutes up the road and consisting of seven riders, wasn't premditated.

"I don't know what I was thinking there, my gut instinct was to attack," said Martin. "It felt like it was the right thing to do.

Martin could be excused for being annoyed at being pipped for victory for the second time this Tour, after AG2R's Alexis Vuillermoz beat him to the line at Mur-de-Bretagne on Stage 8. However, he was upbeat about his performance.

"I'm really happy to get second. Rafal was so much stronger on the Tourmalet, I couldn't follow him," he said. "I don't think I was the second strongest guy in that group so it was a good result.

"It was a dark day for the whole team yesterday, today picked everybody up. Tomorrow we'll come out fighting again."