Dan Martin back in the saddle for Temple Street

Almost exactly one month after crashing out on stage one of the Giro d'Italia, Irish rider Dan Martin will line out tomorrow alongside hundreds of supporters in his annual charity ride, showing he is over his fractured collarbone.

Martin hit the deck on May 9th, his front wheel skidding from under him when he hit a slick manhole cover in Belfast.

The fall happened just 15 minutes into his Garmin-Sharp squad’s participation in the opening team time trial, and ended Martin’s race on the spot.

He was operated on two days later, with surgeons inserting a plate to hold the damaged bone together.

He has made a good recovery and appears to be on schedule to start this year's Tour de France on July 5th.

However, Martin won’t be drawn just yet on his chances of doing so, saying his team will make the decision and then announce the news.

‘Being weighed up’

“It’s being weighed up at the moment,” he told

The Irish Times

. “I am coming back, I am just on the bike now. I feel good but I’d need to be 100 percent for the Tour. So we’ll see.”

Martin won a stage in last year’s Tour and felt he was on course for a top 10 overall finish until he became ill in the final week.

Chasing both those targets would be his goal this time if he can reach the start in strong condition.

Right now, though, Martin is focusing on getting back into shape. He's also concentrating on tomorrow's Cycle4life ride, which will raise money for Temple Street children's hospital.

“I am doing okay,” he said, speaking about his injury and recovery. “Obviously it was a bit rough for the week or so after the operation.

“It has been a gradual rehabilitation, getting the muscles moving again. This is something I have never experienced before . . . it is the first time I have broken a bone.”

Martin had entered the Giro d’Italia as one of the riders tipped to be in the running for the overall title. However his crash in Belfast showed that things can change in an instant.

The fall followed another in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic, when he slipped on the final corner and lost what seemed to be a strong chance of winning the race for the second year in a row.

He said that both crashes were freak accidents.

“I don’t feel that I could have avoided either crash. It is just pure bad luck,” he stated.

“Hopefully that bad karma is finished now and we’ll get payback eventually in the end.”

Martin was told he could start using the indoor trainer the day after his operation on May 11th, but opted to play it safe and to wait a little longer.

He believes that patience has paid off now.

“There’s no discomfort from the bone, none at all,” he said. “I have been training on the road and it has been fine.

“When I am on the bike I feel more of a muscular fatigue. Obviously the muscles haven’t been working properly for a few weeks now. They get tired when I spend a few hours in the saddle. But we will get there, we will get back on track.”

Good shape

Martin has the benefit of having been in good shape; he trained hard this year and was in fine condition when the Giro started.

While he had the disruption of the injury, he is not starting from scratch and so could return to good form relatively quickly.

Providing he rides the Tour, he will use the opening stages to sharpen up and then try to do something in the mountains.

He’d also have a chance to build his form in the preceding Tour of Switzerland.

Before then, though, the Cycle4life will get his full attention.

He returned to Ireland this week from his home in Girona, Spain, and will visit Temple Street hospital prior to tomorrow’s ride with fans.

The annual event offers participants the chance to cycle with Martin across a range of distances, specifically 105 kilometres, 55 kilometres or three kilometres. They can also get autographs signed and pictures taken.

Thus far over €350,000 has been raised for the hospital since the first edition was held in 2012. He is looking forward to the chance of adding to that, and also to meeting the fans.

"It is part of cycling that I love doing. It was a fantastic event last year and I am sure it is going to be the same this time. I think it will definitely be a fun day. And I hope we can make a lot of money for the hospital." For details and to sign up, see www.cycle4life.ie