Martin ready to enjoy Rio

Irish cyclist Dan Martin is looking forward to watching the Rio Olympics as a fan after missing out on a medal in the road race.

The 29-year-old matched Ireland’s best-ever Olympic performance in the road race event, finishing 13th in the gruelling 237.5km race on Saturday to match Ciaran Power's performance in Athens 12 years ago.

Martin, who finished 90th in London in 2012, says he will stay in Rio de Janeiro to watch his fiancee, British athlete Jess Andrews, compete in the 10,000m on Friday.

"My fiancee comes into the Olympic village on Tuesday so I’m here to enjoy the Olympics a little bit," he told the Irish Sun.

"It’s going to be great, not many couples get to experience that.

"I don’t even know when my next race is, it’s a nice feeling. I’ve had two months pretty much of no time at home and just racing, racing, racing.

"So that was a big motivation to go all in, empty the tank and give everything I have.

"Of course I’ll be nervous for Jess, luckily it’s a morning race so I won’t have all day to be scared."

Martin says he and Ireland team-mate Nicolas Roche, who finished 29th, struggled with the lack of race data they received compared to the Tour de France.

"We had zero information out there. Normally we have racing radios so we know time gaps. I had no idea if there were 50 guys in front or five. I didn't know if I was going for a medal," he continued.

"That’s down to the race organisers but it was the same for everybody.

"For me I rode a great race. I'd one problem on the first time on the cobbles when my chain came off. I lost time then and had to make a bit of an effort to get it back but that didn't affect the race, I think everyone had problems at some point."

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