Tour of California Rider Profile: Dan Martin...

If you follow the sport of cycling, you will know that Ireland is experiencing a sort of renaissance right now with a sizable group of riders possessing exceptional talent on two wheels. Counted among these names is 4th year professional Daniel Martin, of the Garmin-Cervelo Team. As is often noted, Daniel is the son of Neil Martin, who was a British amateur champion and later professional in the 1980s, nephew of the great Stephen Roche, and cousin of the current star of the AG2r Team, Nicolas Roche. There, it is out of the way, and I can now focus on the accomplishments and potential of Daniel.

The palmares:


2005   British Junior Road Race Champion (amateur)
2006   stage victory and 2nd overall at the Giro della Valle d'Aosta
            2nd in the Under 23 Irish National Road Race championships
2007 (racing as an amateur with the VC La Pomme Team)
            1st in the GP Rayol Canadel
            1st in the Tour de Savoie
            Points Classification winner at the Giro della Valle d'Aosta
            Mountains Classification winner at the Rode de I'lsard
2008 (Garmin-Chipotle)
            1st overall in the Route du Sud
            Irish National Road Race Champion
2009 (Garmin-Slipstream)
            2nd at the Volta a Catalunya
            3rd overall at the Tour Mediterraneen, and winner of the Young Rider Classification
2010 (Garmin-Transitions)
            1st at the Tre Valli Varesine
            1st overall in the Tour of Poland, with a stage win
            1st at the Japan Cup
            1st overall in the Sprint Competition, Halfords Tour Series
            2nd at the Giro dell'Emilia
2011 (Garmin-Cervelo)
            3rd overall at the Tour of Catalunya

Quite a nice tally for a first four professional years, wouldn't you agree? I think what is most telling from those stats though, is that he has won in a variety of races - sprints, points, mountains - qualities you would expect to see in an overall contender for stage race victory. Martin's Garmin-Cervelo Team is bringing a talent-packed squad to the Tour of California, including David Zabriskie, Ryder Hesjedal, who finished 7th in last years Tour de France, and current World Champion, Thor Hushovd. Any number of riders from the team could end up with a top placing. Count Daniel Martin among them as there, is no question that he possesses the qualities necessary to reach the higher levels of the sport.


Some Dan Martin on the web:


Official Dan Martin website
Pez Cycling News interview from 2008
Cycling Weekly from 2007
and the current Garmin-Cervelo website