Neil Martin is now a directeur at new Dutch Continental-ranked SEG Cycling Team; he has already offered contracts to two Irish riders and says he will be looking for more.

 

Neil Martin has said he will be keeping a close watch on Irish affairs next year and will bring at least one Irish rider into the Continental ranked SEG Cycling Team.

He has just been appointed to act as directeur sportif for the team, which is backed by the agency that handles his son Dan Martin’s affairs.

Ex-professional and former national road race champion of Great Britain, Martin Snr admitted he was a whisker away from taking a couple of Irish riders for the coming year.

But the Irish opted to stay where they were.

The new team is essentially a development squad with a real focus on bringing in young riders and grooming them for careers at the highest level.

Having been appointed as one of the directeurs a couple of months ago, Martin said he is intent on attracting Irish riders for 2016.

 

With son Dan on a ride near the family’s base of several years in Girona, Spain, having made the move to the sun to help junior in his career.

 

“We were talking to a couple and there could have been two guys in the team this year, though I can’t say who they were,” he said of the roster now being put together for 2015.

“We got quite far down the line but they chose to stay with their existing teams.

“It’s their chosen route. One of them is already world class and the other could be, in my eyes.

“But they’ve decided to stay where they are. That’s fair enough.”

Sourcing riders is not just a matter of talent, however.

“Personally, I look for discipline and commitment but also for the fun character in the guy,” said double Olympian Martin.

 

Martin is best known as a manager of the Irish team and father of Dan, but he was a top rider in his day. And his new role should be a fantastic vehicle to pass on all that experience.

 

“Sometimes they can be over disciplined and lose sight of the real reason why we all do this and that’s because we love it and have fun.

“You need a number of things to go a long way in the sport but you need to remember to have fun as well.

“And I look for that in riders; that they can get the balance between discipline and commitment but also understand what it’s really about.”

Martin will once again have an Irish U23 team at the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan at Easter and he will likely have a role when the Irish U23 team rides three Nations Cups races a week later in France, Belgium and Holland.

“I haven’t discussed my programme with Brian yet but I’d imagine it will be the same as last year with Rás Mumhan and I’d like to go along to the Nations Cups, Euros, and Worlds,” he said in reference to Cycling Ireland’s head coach Brian Nugent.

“The communication between myself, Brian and SEG has been amazing and from day one Brian has said I have to do it with SEG.

“It’s another An Post Chain Reaction, if you like; a way forward for Irish guys and next year we will have Irish guys in the team.”