Dan Martin takes Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year; he's bullish about the trio of Ardennes classics that get underway tomorrow and also about the fast approaching Giro (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
With just three weeks to go until the Giro d’Italia, Ireland’s Dan Martin believes his form is exactly where it needs to be and is excited about what’s in store in coming days when he lines up for the Ardennes Classics.
The Garmin-SHARP professional has never hidden his affection for those hilly one-day WorldTour races, and having taken fourth in Fleche Wallone and winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year, he says he can definitely be there or thereabouts again.
Tomorrow, Sunday, he’ll ride Amstel Gold with the backing of an “incredibly strong” team. And though he says it’s the race that least suits him of the three, he knows he has the condition to contend.
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“I don’t think I’ll ever replicate 2013 at the Ardennes, but this year can be just as good, just different and that’s the aim,” he said.
“I’ve never really got a good result in Amstel; just had bad luck. So hopefully the tables will turn and it can be the race that I do well in.
“For Fleche (next Wednesday), I seem to be quite good at riding up that last hill fast. But I think with the change of course it’s going to be a different race this year; more difficult to read.
“Perhaps a break will go from further out but as far as team tactics go we have some cards to play and I’ll definitely have my job to do. The team will do their best to get me to the bottom of the Muur with a chance of winning.”
And of defending his monument title tomorrow week, he said: “Liege is Liege, and they’ve changed the course as well from last year. I think it’s a lot harder than last year.
“It’s hard to say if it suits me more or less but Liege is a race where if you have the legs you can definitely be up there in the results, like I have been in the last two years.
“I’m not going to do anything differently for Liege this year because I won last year. But obviously there’s going to be a lot more pressure on us this year because I’ll have number one on my back and that’s going to be an incredible moment.
“I’m really excited to pin that number on, actually. I don’t think we’ll go in as the favourites; it depends on what happens in (Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallone).
“If you come out swinging in the first two, people will have my name marked for Liege. But it’s a really open race. It’s all the best puncheur-climbers in the world trying to be in the best form for it. So it should be the finest classic of the year and that’s why I love the race so much.
“In Liege you’ve basically got one bullet and you’ve got to be able to use it at the right moment. Tactically, it’s very difficult to read and it takes a special type of rider to be able to race that far.
“Some guys go in and haven’t the capacity to be able to race over seven hours. I’m not sure is it training or what but it’s something I’ve been pretty good at since I first turned pro.
“I was 8th in Lombardy back in 2009, I was there in the GP Plouay in 2009. Obviously when you’re strong you can make tactical choices and decisions; you’re a lot more calculated when you’re fresh coming into the final.”
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Martin has just returned from a two-week block of altitude training in the Sierra Nevada with team mate Alex Howes. It’s something he has never done in the past, in part because he had the wrong perception of what is actually was.
“I’ve never done altitude before and the team kind of proposed it to me this year and I said I’d give it a go.
“I pictured it kind of being this isolation thing, just sitting in your hotel room but it turned out to be a really fun two weeks and we had a great time. We had a mechanic, a masseur, a directeur and Alex Howes.
“We had great craic the whole time, we made really good friends, met a group of British runners up there and the last week we spent a lot of a time with them hanging out. It was just a really fun time.
“There’s loads of bars and restaurants up there, coffee shops too, really not the altitude experience I’d heard about from Tenerife or wherever else.
“I was very happy there and got some great training in so mentally I’m in a really good place at the moment. I’m very fresh – I just hope the red blood cells can return.
“I feel really good and strong and I’m fit. Obviously the form is a bit of a question mark. I am a bit apprehensive about how next week is going to go because riding at altitude you lose a bit of the top end power, but I think I should be good.
“I probably did more training between Catalunya and Ardennes than I did last year and the atmosphere in the team is second to none. We’re having so much fun.
“It’s stuff like that, we have a really good group of guys here and that team bonding is there, we’re very serious on race-day but off the bike we all pull together.”
Looking ahead to the Giro, with some big-name contenders having to pull out like Richie Porte and Chris Horner, stickybottle suggests it augers well for him. But is a podium place too much to dream of?
“Oh, it’s not really a dream. I watched Ryder win the Giro two years ago and I know it’s possible.
“I plan on getting there in the best condition possible but a lot can happen in three weeks; you can get sick or crash but I’ll be doing my best every day and not think of the final podium.
“We’ll go to the Giro to try and win a stage and complete my collection of stage wins in Grand Tours. We’re going there with a really strong team and of course I’m thinking of the general classification but I’m not going to ride negatively.
“I’m going to be racing at the front and me and Ryder will have our dynamic duo back intact. Hopefully we’ll be up there.”
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