Dan Martin will be in the high mountains in Austria again next week, having ridden only last weekend's national championships since crashing out of the Giro on the opening stage nearly two months ago (Photo: Sirotti)
By Graham Healy
While the focus of the cycling world is now firmly on the Tour de France, it can be easy to forget that other professional races are also taking place.
This weekend sees the start of the week-long UCI 2.HC Tour of Austria, where Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) will line up as he starts his build-up to the second half of the season.
Up until 1996 the race was open to amateurs only, and amongst the notable winners then were Roman Kreuziger, Dimitri Konychev and former Rás stage winner, Valter Bonca.
Given the geography of Austria, it’s a race that traditionally suits climbers. Amongst the previous winners since it became a professional race are Cadel Evans and Tom Danielson.
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Sunday’s opening 182-km stage will see the riders finish atop the cat 2 ascent of the 685-metre Sonntagberg.
While not difficult enough for significant time gaps to emerge, the stage should indicate who is in form for the coming hostilities.
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The scene of Stephen Roche's world title win in 1987, Villach will offer a mountain-top opportunity for Dan Martin to test himself in Austria.
It will be Tuesday’s stage where the general classification contenders come to the front; the 206-kilometre stage from Bad Ischl finishing on the 1,670m hors category climb of Kitzbüheler Horn.
Two days later, the riders will have to contend with the category 1 climb of the Iselsberg and the hors category Glocknerkönig.
However, there’s still sixty kilometres remaining after that second climb, so the stage might not be decisive in terms of the final overall standings.
It’s the following stage to Villach-Dobratsch, to the 1740-metre climb above the town where Stephen Roche won his world title that will offer Dan Martin his last chance to try and claim victory.
The penultimate stage consists of a 24-kilometre time-trial, before a final flat stage to Vienna. Newly-crowned Austrian champion and last year’s winner, Riccardo Zoidl returns to his home Tour to try and defend his title.
Zoidl moved to Trek Factory Racing following on from his win 12 months ago. Another former winner, Stijn Devolder is also on the Trek team.
Other riders who could potentially challenge for the title include Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Janez Brajkovic (Astana). It will be interesting to see how Martin has recovered from his crash in the Giro, and we will keep you updated as to how the race progresses.
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