Dan Martin finished safely in the main bunch on the final stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, rolling in 25th and securing ninth place overall in the race. The Etixx-QuickStep rider registered his best-ever overall performance in the event and showed that he can aim higher in 2017 after a string of strong mountain performances. He took five top ten stage finishes, including second, fourth and fifth, and leaves Paris with higher confidence than before.

The final stage came down to the expected bunch sprint on the Champs Elysees and there Irish sprinter Sam Bennett (Bora Argon 18) finished a very solid ninth. He crashed hard on stage one of the race and struggled with injury afterwards, but persisted to finish the race and notch up placings of ninth and twelfth on stages.

Had he not crashed it is almost certain he would have been much closer to a stage win. Still, notching up a top ten on the final stage means he will leave the race with improving morale and this should give him motivation for upcoming events.

Martin will soon head to Rio, where he will line out in the Olympic road race with Nicolas Roche.