Dan Martin will go into this weekend's 229km classic in Spain as one of the favourites.
Dan Martin set for Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
Ireland’s Dan Martin may have enjoyed an uplifting end to the Tour de France, but he’s not resting on his laurels.
Indeed the Irish climber is back in race action again this weekend. He leads a UAE Team Emirates line-up into Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian.
There is a climb towards the end of the race and the finale is always aggressive. The climbing and attacks usually split the field; a good fit for Dan Martin.
He was awarded the Tour de France overall combativity award in Paris last weekend. He finished 8th overall and won stage 6 up Mur de Bretagne.
Furthermore, he was 2nd to Nairo Quintana on stage 17 – some 65km with the finish atop Col du Portet.
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Martin will be supported by a solid team line-up in Spain on Saturday that includes Jan Polanc and Diego Ulissi.
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Also in the selection is Kristijan Durasek along with Vegard Stake Laengen, Manuele Mori and Aleksandr Riabushenko.
UAE Team Emirates will face the best teams in the world in the race. Among the favourites is Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing).
Julian Alaphilippe and Bob Jungels of QuickStep also ride as does Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) and Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo).
Dan Martin’s directeur sportif Joxean Matxin was hopeful the Irishman’s Tour form would hold.
"For lots of riders, the Clasica San Sebastian is an opportunity to take advantage of the physical conditioning they've gained at the Tour de France," he said.
"Our line-up will be made up of two riders who have raced in La Grande Boucle: Daniel Martin, who was always brilliant and combative in France, and Kristijan Durasek, who was consistent on the French climbs.
"Diego Ulissi also has the skills to be an important rider in this race. And recently at the RideLondon-Surrey Classic he proved to be in top form.
“The competition is going to be fierce. It will be essential to make it to the final in a good position.”
“The climb on Murgil Tontorra, coming off the back with 8km to go to the finish line (will be crucial)."
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