Dan Martin gets his season underway very soon and is taking in some big stage races that he has never ridden before.
Currently in Calpe, Spain, at a training camp with his new Etixx-QuickStep squad, Dan Martin has outlined his racing schedule for the early season.
The Irish international, who is looking to put a series of damaging crashes behind him, will begin 2016 with the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
The five-day stage race makes a return to the Spanish calendar after folding in 2008 when the economy imploded bringing several pro races with it.
The reinstated event runs from February 3rd to 7th and gets underway with a 17km individual time trial.
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The stage that will interest Martin most - if in form and given leeway by his new team, of course - will be the penultimate queen stage on Saturday, February 6th.
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It starts in Orihuela and takes in two mountains before the short but very sharp climb to Lloret de Cati which could suit Martin, though he has never ridden the UCI-2.1 event before.
Also new to him will be the Tour of Oman; a UCI 2.HC ranked race taking place from February 16th to 21st and which has traditionally been shaped on the punishing ascent of Green Mountain.
From the Middle East, Martin heads back to his base in Girona, Spain, for the Volta Catalunya which he won overall and took a stage victory in during the 2013 campaign. It runs from March 21st to 27th.
Then comes Ardennes Week in mid April consisting of Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège; the latter won by Martin in 2013.
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