Stephen Roche says he sees a lot of himself in Dan Martin and believes his nephew is a singled minded attacking late bloomer who can keep improving for years to come.
By Shane Stokes
The sole Irish rider to win the Tour de France, 1987 champion Stephen Roche, has spoken in glowing terms about the performance this year of Dan Martin in the race and tipped him for future success in the event.
“I’m really happy for Dan,” Roche told stickybottle recently.
“We could talk about Quintana not attacking and Richie Porte and everything else. But Dan had a few goes a few times.
“Maybe he paid for it himself later on by getting caught and getting dropped, but he took the bull by the horns and went for it.”
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Martin finished a career-best ninth overall in the Tour, but could have been several places higher had he ridden more conservatively.
On several stages he attacked from far out on the final climb of the day, getting a gap but being hauled back by Chris Froome’s Sky team or others, and then dropped.
He ultimately finished a mere six seconds off seventh place, and just one minute 47 behind the rider in fifth, Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team).
Roche said that Martin will head away from the race, assess things, and aim higher next time around.
“I think in Dan’s mind the podium is definitely the next step,” he said.
“Even when he was a kid, he was always a dreamer; always looking ahead and not underestimating himself, without disrespecting the other people.
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“He was always the kind of guy who was a winner," continued Roche of his sister's son.
“‘I want to win, I am going to win.’ He wins, doesn’t win, but if he doesn’t win that gives him energy to come back the next time. He is a winner.
“He just progresses very slowly but surely. He does his own thing in his own back garden and progresses.
“I am sure that whatever the result is at the end of it all, he has his sights set high. Not just on a place on the podium, or a particular place, other than the first place, of course.”
Talk of first place raises the inevitable question: does Roche believe that Martin could wear the yellow jersey into Paris at some point in the future?
“Yes, definitely,” he answered. “Dan is maturing late, and we can see that. There is no panic. He is a solid as a rock.
“Nothing will perturb him or upset him. He fixes his objective, he starts going for it. It doesn’t matter what you say or I say, that won’t disturb him in the least.
“So even putting him up there as being an eventual potential winner won’t change a thing in Dan’s mind or preparation.
“He has his own mindset on what he wants to do, where he thinks he can go to, and nothing will change that.”
Roche is Martin’s uncle and so there are genetic similarities between them. He said that there also other shared traits too.
“I think we are definitely alike, mentally. I was a winner, I wanted to win,” he said.
“Any other place didn’t matter. I was never happy just riding for a placing, I was riding for first.
“That is what we have seen Dan doing. He could have been happy to finish in the first ten but he was still going out and attacking. That would be more like my style.
"Also, I always felt in Dan a sense of tactics that were very, very similar.”
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