Dan Martin put in arguably his best ever TT ride to put himself right in contention at the top of the general classification at Criterium du Dauphine (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
Dan Martin has said he has “zero expectations” for the Criterium du Dauphine this week despite finishing 4th on the prologue on Sunday.
The Etixx-QuickStep man was just 21 seconds down on stage winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) despite not having raced since Liege-Bastogne-Liege in late April.
“I’ve been in Andorra just enjoying riding my bike. I haven’t done really any specific training at all," he told reporters at the finish of the test, perhaps his best ever ride against the clock.
“That was the first time I’ve hit that heart rate since Liege and it bodes well for the rest of the week."
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The uphill 4km test against the clock was sheer brutality as the gradient averaged a leg-sapping 9.8 per cent, though Martin seemed to have judged his effort close to perfection.
Martin was just behind the big three of Contador, Froome (above) and Porte on the opening stage.
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“There’s a lot of tactics; that’s why there’s such big gaps in the overall because if you go too hard at the bottom or into the steep part you can lose so much time.
“If you didn’t save anything for those final 600 metres you could have lost 15-20 seconds.
“You just have to gauge your effort. It’s very easy to get carried away because of the adrenaline and the people at the bottom, you get excited.
“I have zero expectations this week because I came in with no idea what my form is.
“I really have no idea, I feel good in training but I haven’t done any tests or anything, just endurance rides.
“The aim is the Tour but you have (Clasica de) San Sebastien and the Olympics afterwards and they’re still nine weeks away.
“I didn’t aim to be flying here but it looks like I’m going pretty well and it’s a nice surprise.”
Alberto Contador on his way to winning the opening short uphill TT at Criterium du Dauphine.
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