No Irish riders in La Vuelta as Dan Martin also confirmed as non-starter

Dan Martin has already ridden both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France this year and his absence from La Vuelta is not a surprise. However, it confirms the fact Ireland will have no riders in the race this year for only the second time since 2006

Dan Martin has not been named on the Israel Start-Up Nation team for La Vuelta, meaning Ireland will have no riders in the race, which is a rare occurrence.

Sam Bennett is not in the Deceuninck-QuickStep team for the Vuelta as he is injured and needs knee surgery, and up to four months of recovery. The Irish sprinter won't race until next year.

Eddie Dunbar was in very strong contention to ride the race for Ineos Grenadiers but after a recent Covid-19 positive test he has not made the team.

Nicolas Roche (Team DSM) and Ryan Mullen (Trek-Segafredo) are both riding Tour de Pologne at present, which overlaps with the start of La Vuelta this weekend.

It means the news that Dan Martin will not ride the race in Spain, which was expected as he has raced both the Giro and Tour this year, effectively confirms Ireland will have no riders in the 2021 edition.

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Just two years ago Ireland had the race lead and the stage winner (in national champion's kit) when Roche and Bennett were on top at La Vuelta
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Martin rode the race last year, when he placed 4th overall and won a stage. He also won a stage in the Giro in May before going on to compete in the Tour.

This year is only the second time that Ireland has not had a rider in the Vuelta since 2006, when Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan began setting out on their World Tour careers riding Grand Tours.

Deignan made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta in 2007 and since then there have been Irish riders in the race every year apart from 2016. Roche made his Grand Tour debut, at the Giro, in 2007 and has ridden the Vuelta nine times since then.

When Deignan made his first appearance in the Vuelta in
2007 – as a 23-year-old with AG2R Prévoyance – there had been no Irish riders
in the race since Martin Earley last rode it in 1993, the twilight of Irish
cycling’s glory days.

Stephen Roche last rode La Vuelta in 1992, when he was 14th
overall. Sean Kelly last competed in the Spanish Grand Tour in 1988, when he
was the overall winner.

In the absence of Dan Martin from the Israel Start-Up
Nation line-up for La Vuelta, the team has selected Itamar Einhorn, Mads Würtz
Schmidt, Sep Vanmarcke, Guy Niv, Davide Cimolai, Sebastian Berwick, Alexander
Cataford and James Piccoli.

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