Stephen Roche retired in 1993, he hit his peak in 1987 when he won the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the World Championships all in one year, Sean Kelly retired the year after (1994) after an illustrious career; he is still regarded by many as one of the greatest sprinters in the history of the sport.
Since then Irish cycling at the pro level has been going through the doldrums. Hopes grew when Nicolas Roche turned professional in 2005, the fact that he was the son of the former Tour winner helped. In reality, he hasn’t really delivered. He has won Stages and achieved top 10 finishes in races, but there is always a nagging feeling of unfulfilled potential.
It is now Dan Martin who appears to be inheriting the role of the great Irish hope; and if the 2013 Volta a Catalunya is anything to go by, he might actually be on the point of achieving this ambition.
Dan Martin was born in 1986 in the city of Birmingham (UK), he even became the British National Junior Road Race Champion in 2004, before he decided to race for Ireland. He is the son of Neil Martin (a former British Olympic Cyclist) and Maria Martin (nee Roche). In fact, he is the nephew of Stephen Roche (Nicolas Roche is his cousin). So it is certainly a family business.
He turned pro in 2008, riding for the then Garmin-Chipotie-H30. He has made steady progress since then, winning the Tour of Poland in 2010. At 26, he now needs to come of age; this year’s Volta a Catalunya is the biggest win of his career so far. Will 2013 be his year?
KEY PALMERES SO FAR…
2008
Route du Sud (Overall)
2010
Tour of Poland (Overall)
So what happened in this year’s Volta a Catalunya? Unsurprisingly Stage 1, was a hilly first day, lasting just 159km on a loop starting and finishing in Calella. The day’s parcours featured 3 x 3rd Cat and a 1 x 1st Cat climbs.
There was a 2 man breakaway up ahead, with a lead of 5’20”. In the break were Chistiano Salerno (ITA) of Cannondale and Christian Meier (CAN) of Orica-GreenEdge. As they approached the final climb, the gap was coming down rapidly. The catch was eventually made with 22km left to go, as Team Sky set the pace on the front of the Peloton.
On the descent Bradley Wiggins (GBR) of Team Sky launched an attack. The pace blew the Peloton apart, a group tailed in the slipstream of Wiggins, with a 12” gap forming in their wake. With 10km left to go, the gap was still growing, increasing to 32”. They held this advantage right until the end.
In the final sprint Gianni Meersman (BEL) – OPQS powered past the rest of the group to take the win. Behind came the rest of the breakaway group containing most of the race favourites, Wiggins, Michele Scarponi (ITA) of Lampre-Merida, Alejandro Valverde (ESP) of Movistar and Dan Martin (IRL) of Garmin-Sharp were altogether at the finishing line.
Stage 2 stretched between Girona and Banyoles, a journey lasting 161km. It was a flatter day with just one 3rd Cat climb. The breakaway of the day contained 3 riders; they had a lead of 2’25” with 50.7km left to go.
The riders were…
Christophe Laborie (FRA) Sojasun
Olivier Kaisen (BEL) Lotto-Belisol
Christian Meier (CAN) Orica-GreenEdge
After the 1st lap of the final circuit, the gap had fallen to 51”. They were not to make the end of the 2nd lap; they were caught with 20km left to go.
As the race approached the final lap, Blanco was on the front driving forward the pace. In the last 4km, some attacks started to come off the front. These attacks got nowhere, in the final sprint Meersman came through for a 2nd Stage victory.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 2
(1)Gianni Meersman (BEL) OPQS 7:43:46
(2)Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar @16”
(3)Danilo Wyss (SWI) BMC Racing @20”
(4)Robert Gesink (NED) Blanco @20”
(5)Dario Cataldo (ITA) Team Sky @20”
(6)David Lopez Garcia (ESP) Team Sky @20”
Stage 3, and the race ran between Vidreres and Valter 2000 (Setcase). This Stage stretched 180km with 2 x 1st Cat climbs and one final Hors Cat Climb leading up to a mountain top finish.
Approaching the final climb there were 2 men up front, they were Nicholas Edet (FRA) of Cofidis and Karol Domagalski (POL) of Caja Rural. They had a lead of 33” ahead of another 2 riders, Martin Kohler (SWI) of BMC Racing and Lucas Sebastian Haedo (ARG) of Cannondale. They had a growing 3’27” lead over the Peloton.
At this point in the Stage, the Peloton did not appear to be in any great rush. Team Sky was on the front keeping safe, but they certainly were not driving the pace. As the final climb started to ramp up, the gaps just seemed to be growing, Movistar and then Blanco took turns leading the front of the Peloton.
By the 11km, the gap was starting to come down quickly; the Peloton was slowly drawing the chasing pair in. With 10.7km to go, Edet dropped Domagalski and headed up the road by himself. With 8.8km left to go, both Kohler and Haedo were swallowed up.
Domagalski was soon caught, now it was just Edet out front, he still had a lead of 1’29” with 6.5km left to go. With 5km to go, Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Lotto-Belisol went on the attack, trying to work up a gap. Snow now lined the roads, getting deeper and deeper with every new metre climbed. By the 2.1km mark, Van Den Broeck was caught by what was left of the Peloton.
Next on the attack was Tom Danielson (USA) of Garmin-Sharp. With 1km left to go, Wiggins went on the attack, tailed by Nairo Quintana (COL) of Movistar. They were joined by Rodriquez, but neither of the 2 favourites could hold Quintana’s wheel, he took the stage victory. With massive time gaps now being generated on the side of the mountain, the GC now looked like this.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 3
(1)Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar 12:45:28
(2)Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Team Sky @4”
(3)Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP) Katusha @4”
(4)Michele Scarponi (ITA) Lampre @13”
(5)Przemyslaw Niemiec (POL) Lampre @13”
(6)Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar @22”
Stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya stretched between Llanars (Vall de Camprodon) and Port Aine for 218km. It was a gruelling day in the saddle with a series of climbs, 1 x 3rd Cat, 1 x 2nd Cat, 1 x 1st Cat and 2 x Hors Cat. Valverde crashed early on in the stage taking him out of the race.
The breakaway of the day originally contained 23 riders, but as the day wore on riders were dropped and fell by the wayside. Nicholas Roche (IRL) of Saxo-Tinkoff was making a bid for his freedom, but slowly he was drawn back in, and then quickly shelled out of the back. Dan Martin (IRL) of Garmin-Sharp now set the pace in the front of the breakaway, further thinning took place as riders struggled to hold onto his wheel.
Soon just 3 were left with a lead of just 1’18”. They were…
Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin-Sharp
Jesus Herrada (ESP) Movistar
Robert Kiserlovski (CZE) RadioShack-Leopard
Team Sky was on the chase at the front of the Peloton. The gap was slowly growing with 8.9km remaining. Slowly Dan Martin pushed the other 2 over the edge. With 7.4km to go, he was all alone at the front of the race. With 4km left to go his lead had increased to nearly 2 minutes.
Katusha now started to panic, they joined Team Sky at the front of the Peloton. Robert Gesink (NED) – Blanco, Jurgen Van Den Broeck (BEL) of Lotto Belisol and Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar had all attacked off the front of the Peloton. As they crossed the snow line, these 4 riders were set to fight it out for this stage.
Then Rodriquez attacked, pulling himself up towards Quintana, trying to distance himself from Wiggins. Quintana had almost caught Gesink, the 3 riders were coming together.
Nothing was going to stop Dan Martin now as he crossed under the Flame Rouge. He took the stage victory in a style more associated with the bike racing of the 1970s and 80s. Rodriquez and Quintana managed to reduce the gap, but the time difference was still enough to put him into the leader’s jersey. Chapeau!
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 4
(1)Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin-Sharp 18:48:38
(2)Joaquin Rodriquez (ESP) Katusha @10”
(3)Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar @32”
(4)Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Team Sky @36”
(5)Michele Scarponi (ITA) Lampre-Merida @39”
(6)Robert Gesink (NED) Blanco @51”
Stage 5 and the race was essentially spending the day going downhill from Rialp to Lleida (157km), with only one 2nd Cat climb in the middle.
Two riders were up the road, with 40.9km to go, they had a lead of 3’31”. They were Oliver Kaisen (BEL) of Lotto-Belisol and Tristan Valentin (FRA) – Cofidis. Behind in the Peloton, Omega Pharma-Quick Step was leading the chase.
With 30km left to go, the advantage held by the leading group was coming down quickly. With the long flat straight roads they had no chance of escape; their lead was now down to 1’21”.
Dan Martin took an intermediate sprint to try and gain valuable few seconds advantage over Rodriguez. By the 15km mark, the catch was finally made. Vanansoleil-DCM was at the front setting the pace at around the 50km per hour mark, BMC Racing and Cannondale also took turns.
Audrey Kashechkin (KAZ) – Astana launched an attack off the front, but it got nowhere. In the final kilometre, both Cannondale and Argos-Shimano took to the front with their sprint trains. It was Argos-Shimano that pulled it off; Francois Parisien (CAN) took the win. Martin had gained a few more seconds, by the end of the day he had gained a valuable 4 seconds.
Stage 6 stretched between Almacelles and Valls, it was another hilly day lasting 179km. The Stage contained a 1st Cat and a 2nd Cat climb, before a downhill finish. There was an 8 man breakaway up ahead with 27km left to go. The lead was down to 58”, after peaking at around 2.5 minutes. This breakaway included…
Egor Sillin (RUS) Astana
Daniel Navarro (ESP) Cofidis
Alberto Losada (ESP) Katusha
With 18km left to go the road ramped up, the Peloton began to disintegrate, riders fell out of the back, puncheurs tried to get away from the front. The leading group somehow managed to hold together, they resisted the catch for a long time, holding at around 15”.
But it was not to be, with 4km left to go, the catch was finally made. BMC Racing took to the front, setting up a sprint train. They lost control in the final few hundred metres. Simon Gerrans (AUS) of Orica-GreenEdge powered through to the finish winning the stage, ahead of Meersman. Through bonuses, Dan Martin had managed to gain a further 3 seconds.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 6
(1) Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin-Sharp 26:16:22
(2) Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP) Katusha @17”
(3)Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar @45”
(4)Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Team Sky @54”
(5) Michele Scarponi (ITA) Lampre-Merida @55”
(6) Robert Gesink (NED) Blanco @1’07”
Stage 7 saw a gentle run in to Barcelona from El Vendrell, lasting just 122km, most of the stage took place a set of laps around the Olympic complex in Barcelona. With 26km left to go the breakaway of 10 riders was on the point of being caught. They were…
Martijn Keizer (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM
Tiziano Dall’antonia (ITA) Cannondale
Nelson Oliviera (POR) RadioShack-Leopard
Juan Jose Oroz (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi
Thomas Damuseau (FRA) Argos-Shimano
Karol Domagalski (POL) Caja Rural
Karsten Kroon (NED) Saxo-Tinkoff
Andrey Kashechkin (KAZ) Astana
Michal Golas (POL) OPQS
Jurgen Van De Walle (BEL) Lotto-Belisol
Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing
With 4 laps left to go their lead was down to just 18”. They were soon caught, in the resulting counter attack another 3 leaders managed to get away. With 2 laps to go (11.8km), they had a lead of 28”.
Thomas De Gendt (BEL) Vacansoleil-DCM
David Lopez (ESP) Team Sky
Tim Wellens (BEL) Lotto-Belisol
With 10.7km left to go, they were joined by Robert Kiserlovski (CZE) of RadioShack-Leopard and Michele Scarponi (ITA) of Lampre-Merida.
Back in the Peloton, Dan Martin was marking Purito’s every move. As the final lap started the lead was being held at around 27”. With 5km left to go Lopez attacked off the front of the leading group. Within a kilometre, Rodriguez also launched an attack, Martin sucked onto the back of his wheel.
With a kilometre left to go, Lopez was caught. Scarponi led out in the final sprint, De Gendt took the stage win. Rodriguez and Martin finished together; Dan Martin became the 2nd Irish man to win the Volta a Catalunya.
FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
(1)Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin-Sharp 29:02:25
(2)Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP) Katusha @17”
(3)Michele Scarponi (ITA) Lampre-Merida @34”
(4)Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar @45”
(5)Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Team Sky @54”
(6)Robert Gesink (NED) Blanco @1’07”
STAGE WINNERS
STAGE 1: Gianni Meersman (BEL) OPQS
STAGE 2: Gianni Meersman (BEL) OPQS
STAGE 3: Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar
STAGE 4: Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin-Sharp
STAGE 5: Francois Parisien (CAN) Argos-Shimano
STAGE 6: Simon Gerrans (IRL) Orica-GreenEdge
STAGE 7: Thomas De Gendt (BEL) Vacansoleil-DCM
GC: Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin-Sharp
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