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Dan Martin has said having Michael Woods as a team mate when he lines up at the Ardennes Classics can give both of them an edge on the opposition now that they can combine in the colours of Israel Start-Up Nation.
Canadian rider Woods was 3rd at La Flèche Wallonne last year and has placed 7th, 5th, 2nd, 9th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège over the past four years.
Ireland’s Martin (34) won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2013, when his then Garmin Sharp team mate Ryder Hesjedal - another Canadian - proved instrumental for him in the finale.
Hesjedal kept the pressure on in the lead group up the final climb before the Irishman pounced in countering an attack by Joaquim Rodríguez and then saw him off in the sprint for the line.
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It was brilliant team work on the day, when Hesjedal rode selflessly for Martin to win and the Irish rider finishing clinically to take the first of his two career monument wins to date.
And that kind of cooperation in the year ahead between Woods and Martin could land big wins for both of them, just like it worked out so well eight years ago.
Martin was likely about to win again in Liège in 2014 before a last corner crash and has also been 2nd and 5th in the same race while taking 11th last year.
He has been in the top six at La Flèche Wallonne no fewer
than six times but has never won it, taking 2nd twice, 3rd once and placing 5th
last year.
Martin’s record in the Ardennes in the last few years has not been as good as it was in the earlier part of his career, though last season he showed signs of some of his old performances.
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Woods has nowhere near the same record in those classics as his new Irish team mate. But he was a latecomer to pro cycling and though he’s now 34-years-old his record in recent years reflects a rider getting to grips with the Ardennes events.
Martin and Woods are more than a decade older than the
likes of 22-year-old UAE Emirates team mates Tadej
Pogačar and Marc Hirschi, who will also target the Ardennes this year. But
the Irish-Canadian duo can definitely still podium in the races, and perhaps
win.
When asked if having Woods as a new team mate for the
Ardennes classics would be a big benefit, Martin jokingly wondered if they had
ever really been rivals.
“When Michael got on the podium in Flèche last year; even if he wasn’t about to become my team mate I’d be pretty damn happy,” Martin said via a video link interview from his pre-season camp in Girona.
“Obviously he got that podium ahead of me but we’ve already been encouraging each other during the races."
Dan Martin continued: “I’m sure we’ll be able to get a really good working relationship in the races we do together this year. I think our styles are slightly different as well, and we can really complement each other in races.
“It’s just exciting to be able to have team mates in the
races that suit me who have similar abilities because that’s only a strength.
“Not only does it release a little bit of the pressure to
get results, but also if you have bad luck, or you’re caught out in the wrong
place at the wrong time… it’s that tactical edge on your rivals. To have two
guys with similar strengths in the finals of races, it’s a really good place to
be.
“And I’d rather have Rusty racing on my team rather than racing against him. It’s an honor to be racing with him. He has been so consistent over the years."
Martin added with riders like Woods and Chris Froome now in the team, the new group that has formed would share knowledge and egg each other on. He said there was no place for personal ambition, insisting cycling teams were about having a group dynamic and getting results as a team.
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