Kelly hails determined Martin’s fairytale finish in Lombardy

Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly has paid tribute to Dan Martin for the manner in which he bounced back from a dreadful run of luck this year to win one of cycling’s biggest one-day races.

Martin, 28, crashed in four of the biggest events this year, namely Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a Espana and the world championships, but on Sunday, Martin won the Tour of Lombardy in stunning fashion.

The Garmin-SHARP man attacked a select group in the run-in to the finish line, at the end of over 200km of hilly racing, and held them off for one of his finest wins.