Having won the world's hardest one-day race, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, been on the podium at the Ardennes Classics no fewer than five times and also won Il Lombardia, Dan Martin knows all about what it takes to perform in the biggest one-day races in the world.
And he believes Ben Healy's performances over a magical week, starting with Amstel Gold, have won him new-found respect across the pro peloton and also proved he had the key ingredient required to excel at the hardest classics races.
Martin, who retired at the end of 2021, say Healy's breakthrough week was so good he can start immediately to look at those same races next year and start to build towards them. Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) took 2nd in Amstel Gold Race last Sunday week before a more subdued ride in La Flèche Wallonne saw him finish 32nd, though that was followed with 4th place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège after a trade-mark aggressive performance.
Advertisement
Martin believes Healy's grit - his willingness to continue fighting in a race - will prove invaluable in the years ahead, saying riders do not always rise to the top because of the amount of power they can churn out.
"It was a breakthrough week for him, he can obviously build towards next year now and he's got a whole new level of respect across the peloton, we definitely saw that last Sunday when he was a marked rider," Martin told The Cycling Podcast.
Related News
"I first met Ben in 2019 when my father (former pro Neil Martin) was the (Team Ireland U23) director throughout the season, and at the Harrogate World Championships (Healy) did a great ride there, he showed real character."
Martin continued of Healy: "I started telling people down about him, saying 'this kid's gonna be good because he's got grit'. And I think that's the important to acknowledge across the Ardennes Classics. It isn't just about putting down numbers.
"In the mountain stages of the Tour de France it's all about power to weight ratio, and all of that. But with the Ardennes, you've got to have character, you've got to be able to fight for position. Everyone's tired at the end of these races, but you have to believe and keep fighting all the way to the line. And that's exactly what he did he just kept coming back for more.
"Obviously after Amstel he had a bad day at Fleche, after digging so deep at Amstel. But then obviously he came back for more in Liège. I think he's got a bright future and he seems to be in the right team as well," Martin said of the Jonathan Vaughters-led EF Education-EasyPost, who Martin was with for eight seasons when it was sponsored by Garmin and then Cannondale.
"Similar to myself, that team's got a great history of finding talents and really progressing them; helping them, giving them the right environment to build and improve. And he seems to be taking advantage of that situation and that freedom as well; being able to race openly and tactically."
