Lombardy result catapults Dan Martin into UCI rankings top echelon

Dan Martin had a stunning 2011 (Photo: Slipstream Sports)

Dan Martin’s second place in the Tour of Lombardy has propelled him up the UCI world rankings, moving the Irishman into the top ten for the first time.

Martin jumps from 19^th in last month’s rankings to 9^th in the end of year standings just published by the UCI.

It puts the 25-year-old 2011 Vuelta stage winner in very good company; just one place behind Britain’s Bradley Wiggins and one place above Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck.

As well as his second place in Lombardy on Saturday, Martin has enjoyed a fine season with a number of other world class results.

In the Vuelta he won a mountain stage and held the climbers’ jersey for a number of days. He rode well throughout the race before taking 12^th on the final GC; a position that would have been much higher but for the six minutes he lost in the time trial when suffering from a muscle strain.

Martin also won a stage in the Tour of Poland and finished second overall, only being denied a consecutive GC victory by Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) on sprint time bonuses on the final stage.

Martin was third overall in the Tour of Catalunya early in the season and has also tasted one-day victory in Italy this year, in the Giro della Toscana in June. In the run up to Lombardy he was third in the Memorial Pantani in Italy two weeks ago.

Martin’s cousin Nicolas Roche, who was 16^th in the Tour of Lombardy, has finished the season in 130^th place in the UCI standings.

He had a poor season due to injury and a number of crashes but had the solace of taking a fine stage win in the Tour of Beijing the week before last.

Philip Deignan was second to Roche on that stage and the points secured by the RadioShack rider for that result saw him finish 179^th in the UCI rider rankings. He moves to Unitedhealthcare for next year, where he will take on team leadership duties.

UCI Final Rider Rankings 2011

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