I’m not going to ride negatively

Ireland’s Dan Martin says he’ll be taking the Giro d’Italia "one day at a time" as he seeks to become the first Irishman to finish on a podium at a Grand Tour for over a quarter of a century.

Martin, whose uncle Stephen Roche won the race in 1987, will be his Garmin-SHARP team’s joint leader alongside Canadian Ryder Hesjedal for the next three weeks and said he is gunning to get “the best result possible”.

“It’s all about this race,” he said yesterday. “I am not thinking beyond June 1. I am here to lead the team, whether that means stages or General Classification, we don’t know yet. It’s been the goal for my season to do this Giro and we’re here to do the best possible result.”