Ireland’s Dan Martin is back in action tomorrow, Monday, when he lines out in Volta a Catalunya after unexpectedly missing Tirreno Adriatico.
Martin, who won Volta a Catalunya eight years ago, lines
out in the race this year as part of a very strong Israel Start-Up Nation team
alongside Chris Froome, Michael Woods and Daryl Impey.
They will be joined by Omer Goldstein, Reto Hollenstein and
Alexander Cataford. While Martin has already raced with Woods this year, at Tour
des Alpes Maritimes et du Var (2.1) where Woods won a stage, he is yet to race
with Froome and Impey.
The team’s line-up for the Spanish stage race over the coming week is a very strong one and it should offer a good indication of Martin’s and Froome’s form as the Ardennes Classics get closer.
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However, with Woods having already won this year and
Martin having finished 4th overall, and taken a stage, at the La
Vuelta last year, they will be confident of a good season this year. For,
Froome; his attempted comeback from his crash and injury continues over the
next week and that will be closely watched.
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“I will be using the race as an opportunity to push the
legs further towards race fitness,” Froome said of the coming week.
“I love racing on Spanish roads and I am looking forward
to testing myself in the mountains to see how I’ve progressed.”
The four top riders – Froome, Woods, Martin and Impey –
are also expected to form the nucleus of the team’s Tour de France line-up this
year.
Dan Martin enjoyed a solid ride at Tour des Alpes
Maritimes et du Var but has a great record in Volta a Catalunya and will look
to extend that over the next week if he can.
He was 2nd overall in the race, to Alejandro Valverde, in 2009, and was 2nd overall again in 2011, to Michele Scarponi, and 4th overall in 2012 before winning the event, and claiming a stage, the following year. He took another stage victory, and 3rd overall, in 2016, and was 5th in 2017.
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