Dan Martin says he has done everything to be ready for the Worlds tomorrow, believes the race will be aggressive and could well play into his hands (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
In Ponferrada
Dan Martin said tomorrow’s elite men’s road race at the World Championships will be a war of attrition and is hopeful it will not be a washout like last year’s event in Florence.
The Garmin-Sharp man is a fan of the hilly course in Ponferrada and will lead the three-man Irish team with Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan for support.
He said he’s hoping to keep his powder dry for as long as possible but warned a break could go all the way to the line.
“I like the course,” he told stickybottle.
“It’s a lot harder than it looks and people can easily forget the fact that you have to do everything 14 times and race for 254 kilometres.
Advertisement
“The Poggio at Milan San Remo feels like nothing compared to it, a normal training ride! At the start of the race the climbs would be nothing. But at the end of the race it’s always hard.
“It just gets harder and harder and also the weather looks like it’s going to be shit too.
“I looked at the 10-day forecast and every day is sunny apart from Sunday. If that’s the case it makes the downhill much trickier. Hopefully it won’t be the same ice rink as last year but if it is, it just makes it a much harder race."
Martin with cousin and fellow Irish international Nicolas Roche at the Worlds in Holland two years ago (Photo: Toby Watson)
Martin continued: “I think the weather could ruin the race actually. If it’s a sunny day it’ll be a really aggressive race, a really fantastic bike race. But if there’s rain, like last year, it could deplete the peloton and ruin the racing. But hopefully we’ll get lucky and the forecast will change.”
He would be starting with the aim of staying in contention while using the minimum amount of energy.
“I know my strengths and I’m going to ride to my strengths,” he said.
“We’re lucky to have quite a strong team as well; me and Nico have different strengths as well so I think I can definitely afford to keep my powder as dry as I can for as long as possible and leave it until the last lap, ish.
Related News
“Hopefully the lads will be able to show the jersey at some point and I think a break could go to the finish from a way out, especially if it rains. It’s going to be an aggressive race with lots of aggressive teams in there.”
And while the U23 and junior events came down to group sprints, Martin believes the elite contest is likely to pan out differently.
This second place finish at La Fleche Wallonne was Martin's best one-day result of the year, though he would likely have retained Liège–Bastogne–Liège days later had he not fallen on the final corner while leading solo. He believes the climbs on the 14 laps of tomorrow's Worlds course will make the race much harder than people expect, which should play into his hands (Photo: Sirotti)
“I think the pro race is different to the U23 because there’s strong teams and more tactics,” he said.
“If you get in a strong break with Australians, Italians, the Dutch, French, Spanish, one from each team; who’s going to chase?
“On a course like this, people are suggesting it’s going to be for fast sprinters. It’s then in the other countries’ interests to make the race very difficult and that means lots of attacks and I think that suits us.”
Martin has said in the past that riders coming out of the Vuelta usually have good form for the World Championships. And this year he fits into that bracket of rider; at least he hopes he does.
While he felt fatigued for a week to 10 days after the Vuelta, he had switched off mentally and having done some training is now hoping he has come out of that race in good form, as he usually has following previous Grand Tours.
“But you don’t know how your form is, I literally have no idea,” he said.
“It’s going to be interesting. I’m sure I haven’t lost the form I had at the Vuelta. And even if it was dented a bit (after the Vuelta); it wasn’t so much my form was dented, it was more my recovery.
“I feel really good as far as attacking this last part of the season goes, so I think I’m ready; I’ve done everything possible to be good here. I’d really like good weather now though!”
Topics
