Martin undergoes successful operation

FOUGERES, France: Tony Martin has undergone successful surgery on the collarbone he broke in a crash at the Tour de France.
The 30-year-old German was taken to hospital in Hamburg early on Friday and operated on to repair the damage done in his crash on Thursday.
“I would like to thank all the people involved in my transportation to the hospital and the medical staff in Hamburg. They were all amazing and they allowed me to undergo surgery in such a short time after the crash,” said Martin in a statement issued by his Etixx-Quick Step team.
“In these situations time is an important factor and we couldn’t have done better.”
Martin had a dramatic six days on the Tour before being forced out while wearing the leader’s yellow jersey.
He was second on the opening stage time-trial on Saturday, missing out on yellow by just five seconds to Australia’s Rohan Dennis.
The next two days he was denied yellow by a matter of seconds after first Fabian Cancellara and then Chris Froome earnt decisive time bonuses on the line.
Martin, a three-time world time-trial champion, finally got his hands on the jersey on Tuesday after making a daring solo break to win the stage despite suffering a puncture shortly before the end.
But on Thursday he crashed in the final kilometre and although his teammates helped him over the line, his race was over.
“I will follow the race on TV today from the hospital. It will be strange but that’s life and cycling,” said Martin.
“I have to try to see the glass half full and keep the good memories. I had a great first part of the Tour with a great team around me. I won a stage and wore the yellow jersey for the first time in my career. A dream came true during this Tour and now I’m already looking forward to coming back one day again and living the great emotions of this race.”