Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin at last year's Olympics; they've done a great interview with us on their lives away from racing their bikes.
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By Gerard Cromwell
Irish cycling cousins Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche are on a break from training and racing at the moment so we decided to give them a break from cycling questions.
So we won’t be finding out about their respective Grand Tour stage wins this year but if you want to know which one of them maybe... possibly... but probably doesn’t, have Britney Spears on his ipod, or which one of them would win in a fight, read on!
GC: What’s your favourite football team?
DAN: “Dad always supported Birmingham City but they’re pretty crap now so it's probably Barcelona as I live in Girona. Barcelona is the Catalan team, so as a Catalan resident, it’s definitely Barcelona.I’m actually going to watch Arsenal against Hull in a few weeks time at the Emirates because my management company manage a couple of the Arsenal players but I haven’t been to a match for ages. I remember going to see Kilmarnock playing somebody in the snow a few years ago, sitting in between Cav (Mark Cavendish) and Thor (Hushovd). That was an interesting experience. I think there were about four guys sent off.”
NICOLAS: “I used to support PSG as a kid, but I haven’t been to a game in ages. I don’t really have a favourite soccer team any more but I’ve been to a few Ireland rugby matches.”
GC: If you weren’t a cyclist what other sport would you like to do?
NICOLAS: “Rugby. I used to play for Blackrock College years ago and loved the game but I got injured and took up cycling. So I’d say rugby.”
DAN: “Probably motorcycling actually. I think a lot of people thought I was going to be a motorcyclist but we didn’t have enough money to be able to start doing that so I ended up on the other type of two wheels. But Dad was working in the industry for a long time and I started going to the British GP in 1993 or 1994 and loved the whole atmosphere there. All I ever did was play motorcycle racing games. I really loved the sport and still do to this day. I’ve got a scooter and I run around on that but I wouldn’t risk having a motorbike now. I’d probably kill myself.”
GC: What was the last non-cycling sporting event you were at?
DAN: “At the Olympics I managed to visit a lot of other sports. I went to basketball, badminton, swimming, diving... the men’s gymnastics was incredible. That was a fantastic experience, seeing those guys, what they could do. I managed to see six events in three days. I was at the F1 testing earlier this year in Catalunya too and was at Moto GP last year. I probably go to that quite often because I know a couple of the Spanish guys. Cal Crutchlow grew up about 10km from me but I never actually met him until this year. I know a couple of the superbike riders as well. It’s just a mutual respect I think. I think they’re crazy and they think I’m crazy and everyone loves cycling.”
NICOLAS: “I like motorcycling too. I’m friends with Irish superbike rider Eugene Laverty and he invited me to the superbike race in Monza in May. Eugene won a race there and it was a great day out.”
GC: What’s your favourite music and what do you listen to while warming up for a time trial?
DAN: “A bit of everything. I don’t really have a favourite. I have an eclectic mix of everything, apart from heavy rock, dance music to chill out stuff, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Green Day, a full range. I actually need to get a playlist sorted for time trials. That’s probably why my time trial performances are so up and down, (laughs) because I listen to everything. If Britney Spears or something comes on... (laughs) I haven’t got Britney Spears on my ipod... but if it does, (laughs) that ruins my whole performance.”
NICO: “I don’t know if it’s the Irish thing, reminding me of home, but I really like U2. I have the words ‘with or without you’ tattooed on my arm. This year though I listened to the Tomorrowland 2012 album a lot before time trials.”
GC: What type of films do you watch on races?
DAN: “I stopped doing that this year at the Tour. Any free time I had, I spent with my eyes closed relaxing, just really switching off mentally. I watched very little TV this year. I think that’s what’s changed actually. I achieved a much higher level of focus and concentration around the race. As far as movies go, I watch the same movies over and over again, comedy mainly. I don’t take life too seriously. Serious movies, I can’t hack them. It’s Will Ferrell movies and stuff like that.”
NICOLAS: “This year on the Tour I was rooming with Roman Kreuziger and I don’t think we turned the telly on once. We just read books and car magazines and had a chat. I watched The Hobbitt about five times between the Tour and Vuelta though and on the bus one of the long transfers this year. That’s probably my favourite film at the moment.”
GC: What’s your guilty pleasure?
DAN: “It depends whether you’re talking food, drink or object. I like to enjoy all types of things but I’ve never felt guilty enjoying a nice glass of wine or a beer or any food. My scooter probably. I love my scooter. It’s so much fun. It’s one of the fastest 125 scooters you can buy, with a race exhaust and everything. It’s my little toy. It’s nice to have that but I don’t really feel guilty about anything. It’s everything in moderation really.”
NICOLAS: “I have a lot of guilty pleasures; (laughs) chocolate, clothes... anything with an engine. I also have a passion for watches. I only have three but they mark three very special occasions.”
GC: How would you describe your dress sense?
DAN:“It depends which side of the bed I get out of.” (laughs)
NICOLAS: “It depends what taste you have. Dan’s more into jeans and casual wear where I’m more into classic wear... shirts and suits.”
GC: Who has the best victory salute?
NICOLAS: “He’s practised a fair bit more than I have.” (laughs)
DAN: “I think you just do whatever comes into your head at the time. You don’t exactly train for it. Well, I don’t... do you?”
NICOLAS: “No... It’d be a waste of practice.” (laughs)
GC: Favourite place to train?
DAN: “I think we spend so much time away from home that being at home is where you want to be most.”
NICOLAS: “I think I agree with that. It might not be the best training place in the world but the fact that you’re at home makes it a bit more special.”
DAN: “The mountains here in Ireland are the best place in the world to ride when it’s sunny.”
NICOLAS: “Yeah, but you might only get three sunny days a year.” (laughs)
GC: You’ve both got leisure cycles, tell me a bit about them.
DAN: “I was fortunate to be invited to put my name on the DID Cycle 4 Life. I put very little effort into it and it’s great to see the little tiny kids turn up and see people benefit from the funds raised. There’s probably not one family in Ireland who hasn’t been in Temple Street Hospital, so it’s nice to be able to help those people.”
NICOLAS: “Sports people; we’re not successful businessmen or whatever, but we maybe have a little bit of influence to help attract people and help provide the funds for our charities. The fun riders like to go for a spin knowing that the money goes to a good cause. For me, it’s great that the Nicolas Roche Classic can support and help something like the Down Syndrome Centre this year.”
GC: What do you want to be when you grow up?
DAN: “Taller.” (laughs)
NICOLAS: “As a cyclist I don’t think you ever grow up. People say when you’re closer to 30 you start thinking about what you’re going to do later but we’re still thinking about what we’re going to do now. The better we do now, then maybe we will have more opportunities to do something later.”
GC: Since a guy dressed in a panda suit ran behind Dan in the final kilometre of Liege-Bastogne-Liege, he seems to be associated with pandas. What’s your favourite animal Nico?
NICOLAS: “I think Dan has a great thing going with the panda. It started off with a joke and now it’s gone global. I think it’s gone all over the world. That panda is the most famous guy in Belgium and nobody knows who he is. Maybe some day we’ll find out who was running behind him. I don’t really have an animal. I’ve been thinking about my own logo but I haven’t really found anything. Roche means rock in French but I don’t think I’m going to have a rock as my symbol.”
DAN: “I wouldn’t have had a panda if it wasn’t for that guy in Liege. You never know what’s going to happen. I’ve embraced it and I really noticed it when I went to the Tour of Beijing in China this year. The Chinese people suddenly, when there was a panda involved, thought ‘cycling is cool now’. It’s nice to have something like that. I have it on my t-shirts for Temple Street too, so that’s pretty cool.”
GC: What type of phone do you have?
DAN: “A blackberry with unlimited data.”
NICOLAS: “An iPhone with an expensive phone bill.”
GC: Do you use Twitter or Facebook?
DAN: “I go through phases on twitter. Sometimes I disappear, strike a few times and then disappear again. I don’t use Facebook. I kind of keep a check on it, but not much. It gets a bit out of control. What highlighted it to me was that people you don’t know can see your stuff. I have small cousins who add me to Facebook and it’s a little bit too... you don’t really want people to get involved with family. Twitter is a bit more impersonal.”
NICOLAS: “I’m the same. I have Facebook but it’s just friends from school and family. Sometimes you want to share something but just because you want to share your holiday photos with your family doesn’t mean you want to share it with the whole world. It’s none of their business. Now every time you do an update it cancels all your privacy settings so if you don’t think about it, for the first couple of days you get loads of messages and stuff from people who shouldn’t be able to message you.”
DAN (with a worried look on his face) “I didn’t know that!”
GC: Last question. Who’d win in a fight between you two?
NICOLAS: “In a fist fight? I think I’d have the advantage in that one.”
DAN: “Yeah, Nico, I’d say. I’ll let him have that one.”
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