Philip Deignan says the Worlds course suits Dan Martin completely, adding while the Irish team is small in number it is made up of three strong riders (Photo: Shane Stokes)
By Brian Canty
In Ponferrada
Philip Deignan believes Ireland has a genuine gold medal contender in Dan Martin for tomorrow’s elite men’s road race at the World Championships in Spain.
The Team Sky rider will form part of a formidable Irish trio for the 254-kilometre event, with Nicolas Roche the other heavy hitter in the team.
Donegal man Deignan has enjoyed a return to top form the last couple of seasons and has had a great year with Team Sky so far in 2014. He believes the Ponferrada course is perfectly suited to Martin’s characteristics.
“We’ve trained on the course and it suits Dan down to the ground,” said Deignan.
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“He’s the leader here, so it depends on what he’s feeling. It’s a real wearing down course like the one he won Liege-Bastogne-Liege on. But a lot will depend on the weather conditions.
“They’re forecasting rain and that could change things. The final climb isn’t far from the finish and if someone had a gap over the top, it might be difficult to bring them back. It’s a pretty exciting course, a good course.”
Deignan on the penultimate stage of the Vuelta; a day where he was last man standing in the lead group up the final climb apart from the top seven riders overall (Photo: Sirotti)
Deignan said his role would involve doing anything he could for the team.
“We’re in a different situation to before because with Dan we have a guy who can definitely podium or even win. So we’re coming in with a different mindset.”
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Tomorrow will be Deignan’s fifth time riding the elite race at the Worlds, having been part of the Irish team for four years from 2006 to 2009.
He was delighted to be part of such an organised and professional setup this week.
“It’s the first time since 2009 that I’ve done the Worlds with the Irish team and the organisation is great,” he said.
“It’s great to have so many juniors and a good U23 squad and it’s a good setup, it’s not an amateur setup anymore. We’re really professional about it and the atmosphere is great.
The broken collar bone on the Tour of Britain that kept Deignan out of the World Championships last year after a fantastic season with Unitedhealthcare that saw him return to the really big time with Team Sky this year.
“I arrived late into the camp this week and there were a few guys I hadn’t seen or met before. So it’s exciting; good times for cycling in Ireland.”
Of his own condition, he said he was feeling good.
“I had a lot of rest after the Vuelta. I took quite a few days off, did a few easy rides. And then I just did a bit of motor pacing and a few long rides to sharpen up before I came out here. So I feel okay.
“But you never know with the worlds; it’s always very competitive. It’s a wearing down process and I’ve always been there until two laps to go. And when the real heavies go I haven’t been able to follow. I’ll be supporting Dan so it could well be the same.
“It’s funny, the Australians passed us out training (on the course) and they were slagging us saying ‘is that all you guys have?’ But I said ‘it’s more about the quality than the quantity’. We’re only three guys but we’re strong guys and definitely the confidence is high.”
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