Israeli startup Nation (opens in new tab) has announced eight team members for its Tour de France debut. Dan Martin (open in new tab) is available to start two weeks after his crash at the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Martin fractured his sacrum (open in new tab) in the crash and was forced to abandon after just two stages. At a virtual press conference on Wednesday afternoon, the Irish rider said he was ready to race and reiterated that he was aiming for a stage win rather than an overall win at the Tour.

He joins 11-time stage winner Andre Greipel (open in new tab), Ben Hermans, Nils Pollitt, Hugo Hofstetter, Tom Van Asbroeck, Christo Neylans, and the first Israeli to compete in the Tour in France, He joins Guy Niv.

"It was a pretty bad injury," said Hugo Hofstetter. 'Three days later I was back on the bike and riding pretty easy, so in relative terms it was pretty small. But I still have a fracture, so obviously I'm far from ideal."

." He added: "It was also a bit of a blow to our preparation that we missed an important stage of the Dauphiné. But here we are and fortunately we are on the start line. If I hadn't been in perfect physical condition and not able to race, I wouldn't have competed in the Tour away from my teammates."

"I refused to answer the team if I would be here until Sunday or Monday because I wanted to be 100% sure that I could comfortably produce the power I needed to race, not just to go around the Tour de France."

Martin said that he was in top shape for the Dauphiné, and as a result, he did not feel as though his form had suffered significantly in the time since he left the race; the 34-year-old said that rest could even be helpful in the final stages of the Tour de France ...

"I'm relieved because I worked incredibly hard during the race break. I was in incredible condition for the Dauphiné. It's only been two weeks since my fall, and it's not often that my condition goes down during that time. [But that's the reality and I'm hoping that the rest will pay off in the third week.

"Given the way the season has gone so far, I think week three will be very challenging and it will be interesting to see how the race reacts to such a challenge, especially at this time of year. Physically I'm ready, mentally I'm more prepared."

The entire team (a mix of climbers, sprinters, and rulers) will work together as a team on each stage to try to win as many stages as possible. Martin did not rule out running for GC if he were in that position, but said it was not his primary goal.

"The team's main goal is stage wins," he said. Obviously, running in the overall class limits your opportunities to fight for stages; in 2018, I won a stage (stage 6 Mules de Bretagne - editorial) which was not a good one for the GC guys, and apart from that, it's hard to go for stage wins and the overall, because you're not going to be able to win a stage and win the overall."

"To really achieve the goal of a stage win, it would be wise not to make it an objective to ride for the GC. Of course, anything can happen; if you get to the third week and you're still in that position, you can look at it. "

The Tour kicks off on Saturday. It will be a tougher than usual opening weekend, with two hilly stages around Nice and summit finishes on stages 4 and 6 at Orcières-Mellette and Mont-Aigual.

Martín said that with the race starting off hard, the riders will lose their freshness faster than usual.

"With such a hard first week, it won't be long before the peloton loses its freshness. I hope he's free of the nerves that are so common in the first week of the Tour de France." Accidents and crashes often have a negative impact on a race. So I think the third week will be even more challenging. This is part of the Tour

"We will move forward as a team and look at each stage almost as an individual one-day race. We will attack each day as a new day and find tactics to get the best possible result. We can work together as a team to support the best rider for each stage."