Dan Martin all set for Giro d'Italia in top form | Sticky Bottle

Dan Martin is in good form and is clearly full of confidence going into the Giro d'Italia; buoyed by his recent performances and also his best ever GC result at a Grand Tour last year, with 4th overall at La Vuelta

Dan Martin has said the course for the upcoming Giro d'Italia suits him and that he felt better now than at any time in his career, with Israel Start-Up Nation having lined up a strong team to support him in Italy.

Martin leads a team comprised of Patrick Bevin, Matthias Brändle, Davide Cimolai, Alessandro De Marchi, Alex Dowsett, Krists Neilands and Guy Niv.

The Irish climber goes into the Giro set to ride for the general classification. However, he will also target a stage win and his team is also hopeful it has several riders who may be able to win a stage.

Martin put in a fantastic performance, and looked back to his best, at the end of last season when he took a stage win and 4th overall at La Vuelta; the best GC ride of his career at the age of 34 years.

*Dan Martin wins stage 3 of last year's Vuelta; a race that yielded the best general Grand Tour general classification finish of his career (Photo: Gomez Sport)*

He also rode very strongly at the recent Tour of the Alps, until a double crash descending during the penultimate stage took him out of what seemed a certain final podium finish.

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And on the back that ride, and with his form on the up, Martin appears brimming with confidence just over a week away from the Giro.

“At the end of last season, I decided it was time for a new challenge and I was really excited to do the Giro d’Italia. This is a course that really suits me,” he said.

Dan Martin may have crashed twice in the finale of the penultimate stage of the Tour of the Alps, but he looked in mint condition on the climbs and is clearly taking great confidence from that performance (Photo: Tornanti.cc)

“I know that I’m stronger than I’ve ever been right now – both mentally and physically. My fourth place overall in the Vuelta last year was a big stepping stone to becoming more confident in doing well in the GC.

“Obviously, winning a stage is also a big goal. I have two in the Tour de France and two in the Vuelta a España and to complete the set of Grand Tour victories is a big ambition of mine.”

His team sports director, Nicki Sørensen, believes the Irish climber is in great condition ahead of the first Grand Tour of the year.

“The main goal for us is to do a top result in the GC with Dan [Martin]. He is in great shape and he will have full support from the team to reach his – and our – goals. However, we will also aim for stage wins as we have a team that can play a part in all terrains in this race.”