Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) suffered two crashes in the second stage of the Tour de France, losing over three and a half minutes. The Colombian, who raced as co-leader with Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Iguita, has a sore knee but no other serious injuries and will compete in the third stage in Nice on Thursday.

"I'm really disappointed today, I fell twice, once at the beginning of the Col de Turini and once on the descent near the finish," Martinez said. [The first fall was more painful because the second one felt a little harder, even though I was going faster. I have a little pain in my knee, a little swelling, but it's normal and hopefully it will recover quickly in the next few days."

The team was looking forward to the 186-km second stage, which starts and finishes in Nice, putting the crash-prone opening stage, in which Uran crashed with 3 km to go, behind them.

Martinez started the stage 10 seconds behind stage 1 winner Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), but the stage, which included four passes (Col Colmian, Tourini, Eze, and Quatreschemin), was to be a test for the overall contenders in the early stages. The stage was supposed to be a test for the overall contenders in the early stages.

It was also a special stage for Martinez, who won the queen stage of Paris-Nice last year on the summit of the Col de Tourini.

Unfortunately, Martinez's first crash on the second stage came at the start of the Col de Tourini midway through the stage. He was able to rejoin the main group, but crashed again on the descent of the Col d'Eze.

As they approached the descent, Hugh Carthy stopped to wait for Martinez and help him back to the main group. However, when Julien Alaphilippe (Detunink-Quickstep) launched a furious attack on the final climb, Martinez was unable to respond and eventually finished 3:38 behind the stage winner.

"Unfortunately, Dani Martinez crashed twice, and the chase took a lot out of him. Nonetheless, the team did a very good job and Hugh Carthy did a very good job to bring Dani back." For Sergio to finish in the top five is a good way to start the Tour on such a tough stage."

Martinez was one of the favorites to win the overall heading into the Tour de France after winning the Criterium du Du Duafiné earlier this month. In that race, Martinez entered the final stage in the top five overall behind Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), who took the de facto lead after Primoz Roglic retired from the race after being injured in a crash the day before. Martinez rode a strong final climb to Altiport to finish second on the stage and take the biggest overall win of his career.

Martinez competed in the 2018 Tour de France, finishing 36th, and was also selected to compete last year, but was sidelined due to a crash in training last June.

This year, he is one of three leaders in the EF Pro Cycling team competing in the Tour de France, along with Uran and Higuita, who are currently 17 seconds back, supported by Carthy, Nielson Powles, Tejay Van Garderen, Albert Betiol, and Jens Keukelaar and joined a strong lineup.