Dan Martin had hoped to figure more in Tirreno Adriatico, which finished last week, but feels his form augurs well for Volta a Catalunya in the week ahead
By Brian Canty
Dan Martin’s next assignment of the season is the week-long Volta a Catalunya which starts on Monday. And having finished on the podium there in the past, the Garmin-SHARP rider is optimistic of his chances.
Previously second and third overall in a race he terms his ‘home race’, the Girona based climber believes he’s in good shape to mount a challenge for overall honours.
“I feel really good, obviously it was a bit of a challenge to recover after Tirreno but I came out of it pretty good,” Martin told stickybottle.
“It was a heavy workload in Tirreno but I finished the race stronger than I started so that’s a good sign for Catalunya this week. The fact that I was getting better and better every day.... we decided to put me in Catalunya because it’s a mountain race and the course really suits me, so we can go there and try to get a result,” he added.
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Martin came to prominence in the 2009 edition of the race when he finished second on the queen stage to Andorra behind Spanish rider Julian Sanchez. That result elevated him from sixth to second place overall, a position he held until the finish.
And having come through his first full stage race of 2013 at the rain-lashed Tirreno Adriatico last week, he said he was looking forward to racing in the sun for a change.
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“It was wet every day so it was a long hard week,” he said.
“I knew my form was pretty good going in but I think the level surprised everybody. It was a really high level. It was pretty much a Tour de France quality field. I expected to be a bit further forward but then I looked at the power files and I was up against a really high quality field, against guys who have all been racing for a number of weeks.”
“But I was really happy with how I was getting better and better. I got 10th on one stage and I think I just lacked a bit of racing. The last day I felt really good on all the climbs as well, just a slight mechanical derailed me in the final but I would have been there or thereabouts, so that augers well.”
Indeed, on the queen stage from Ontona to Chieti, a 230 kilometre leg-breaker, Martin finished 10th and jumped up to 16thoverall. And while several riders were listed as DNFs, the Irish climber couldn’t get enough of it.
“I loved every minute of it. It was exactly what I love and I really enjoy racing like that. Other than the weather, it was a great day. I think it’d be a great one day race if they could make that happen. As far as being a spectacle I think it was an amazing day’s racing. The organisers got a bit unlucky with the weather. The climbs were made a lot more difficult with the rain and the road surface wasn’t that good either but it was a beautiful stage. It pretty much decimated the field.”
He said while it would’ve been “incredible” to ride his maiden Milan-San Remo tomorrow, Sunday, he’s not too disappointed to miss out. And he believes there’s one man who will take a lot of beating.
“I don’t think you can look past Sagan. He’s in top form. To be in the front on the last stage (at Tirreno), he’s not going to have a problem with the Poggio. Obviously bad luck could strike at any time, such as the weather but he seems to be able to cope really well with cold and wet weather.”
“He was the only one in shorts and jersey the last day of Tirreno. I think it’s going to be an unpredictable race, having a definite favourite like Sagan, with everyone focused on him...It just gives someone else the opportunity to get up the road and cause a surprise. It’s going to be an epic.”
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