Dan Martin had a bad crash on Wednesday at Fléche-Wallone and was a doubt for tomorrow's Liége-Bastogne-Liége but he is going to start. It's been a tough season for his Cannondale-Garmin squad but if one man can turn it around it's Martin.
Nicolas Roche has been named as co-leader of Team Sky for tomorrow's Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
And former winner Dan Martin has been cleared to ride four days after he was forced to withdraw from Fléche-Wallone because of injuries sustained in a crash there.
The cousins are among four Irishmen down to contest tomorrow's classic, with Philip Deignan also riding for Team Sky and Matt Brammeier lining out for MTN-Quebeka.
Cannondale-Garmin's Martin hit the deck hard on Wednesday and though he got back up and regained contact with the main field he would later withdraw.
Advertisement
The fear for him was that the injuries sustained would rule him out of tomorrow’s 253-kilometre event but he was today named as a definite starter.
Nicolas Roche will co-lead Team Sky tomorrow. It's probably one of the few races in the year the Irishman will get some level of protection from the team so he'll be keen to chase a good result and a top result is definitely possible.
Martin won the race back in 2013 and looked to have it won last year but for a crash on the last corner, so he’ll be a marked man.
It remains to be seen how much he has recovered from Wednesday’s spill.
Though he didn’t break anything, he suffered a lot of bruising and road rash to his side. He completed a recon ride of some of the course yesterday along with his team.
The fact he has come back from some very nasty crashes in the past – and very often come back in great style – should give him confidence.
His participation is also a boost to the many Irish followers who are in Belgium this weekend for the race.
The route profile for tomorrow; flat it is not...
Martin, now aged 28 years, said despite his crash in one of his biggest targets for the year, he was still hopeful of being at the head of affairs when the battle gets most intense.
“I’m definitely fit enough, it’s just seeing where this whiplash I’ve got is at,” he said.
“It’s improving every day. I also don’t know what will happen during the race tomorrow.
“Six hours like that on a bike, it could make it worse and I’ll have to stop.
Related News
“At this point in time we’re optimistic that I can be competitive.”
Great to see Matt Brammeier back in the WorldTour races again. He'll be trying his best to get in the breakaway tomorrow, something he's more than capable of doing (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
It should be a cracking afternoon’s racing, particularly as there are four Irishmen on the start line.
Deignan is capable of being a force in this event, which suits the climbers. And his inclusion in a team with Roche as co-leader adds to the race's huge Irish interest.
Brammeier has been rewarded for some great form, including being in the escape at the Tour of Flanders.
He has very quickly convinced his MTN-Quebeka team that he can do a major job for the protected riders in the squad.
Roche has just returned from a stint of training at altitude and was going very well in Fléche-Wallone during the week, finishing with the lead group on terrain that isn’t so well suited to him.
The climbing tomorrow is hard enough for Philip Deignan to make an impact. Above, climbing through the snow in Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali last month.
Tomorrow will suit Roche much better and he could certainly do something, though to win it will probably take something like a late solo attack from a reduced group.
That's exactly how he won stage 2 of the Vuelta A Espana in 2013 and he looks to be in very similar form of late; starting the season much stronger than he has done in recent years.
Sergio Henao will be Team Sky's other leading contender.
It’s a star-studded field again with all of the sport’s top puncher-climbers present.
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) looks like the man to beat after his phenomenal performance at Fléche while defending champion Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEdge) is another to watch, as is Ag2r La Mondiale man Domenico Pozzevivo.
The latter took a brilliant stage of the Volta A Catalunya and is viewed by many as a dark horse.
Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) should also be there or thereabouts.
Topics
