Wout Poels may have ultimately won the stage, but arguably the most impressive rider on yesterday’s fourth leg of the Tour of Britain was the Irish pro Daniel Martin. He went clear immediately after the drop of the flag in Minehead and was still out front until approximately six kilometres from the finish in Teignmouth. During the 171 kilometres stage, he was involved in several moves and showed great determination to try to chase a result.
Martin has won three times already this season; he took a stage plus the overall classification in the Tour of Poland, and then went on to win the prestigious Italian race, the Tre Valli Varesini. He also went close in the GP Ouest France in Plouay.
VeloNation spoke to him after yesterday’s stage, getting his thoughts on the day’s racing and also on the strong performance by his first cousin Nicolas Roche in the Vuelta a España.
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Velonation: You were very aggressive today, Daniel – how soon after the start did you go up the road?
Dan Martin: I attacked at kilometre zero. We got caught again, I went again straight away, we got caught again, then I went away with [Matt] Hayman and [Johnny] Hoogerland. There wasn’t more than a kilometre when I wasn’t in the break.
I had really good legs, it just felt right. Every time it regrouped and it kind of stopped, everybody went ‘ahhh’, then you hit them again and they might let you got. I was just trying to get the right combination when there is nobody on GC. Every time Vacansoleil would put one of their three guys in general in there. The first time was with Bozic, I tried to get him to sit up. I attacked on the climb, Bozic came with me…I thought at first it was Carrara but it was Bozic. They might have let me go solo, but it would have been a long day solo.
VN: With Hoogerland being there with you in the later break, that made things difficult as he was up on GC and was always going to be controlled….
DM: Yes, I was trying to get him to sit up and maybe let us go for the stage. But he was pulling stronger than any of us, so we might not have got as far as we did without him. Columbia worked hard and it is going to be a long week for them now to try to hold on to the jersey. Johnny is going to have a real go again tomorrow. It is going to be an interesting race.
VN: Was that course difficult for you, with regards to the hills being so far from the finish?
DM: It is so windy up there as well. With a small group it was difficult. But the terrain is the terrain, but it is true that the the hills were a long way from the finish and you have these little kickers near the end. They are sprinters climbs and for myself it is always going to be difficult. Once I got caught…okay, six kilometres is so close, but I think I would have needed a minute and half in that five kilometres (laughs). I was so wrecked. But I tried.
We are really happy, we put on a good show. There were so many people on the side of the road, it was incredible. It was nice to be out front all day, leading the race.
VN: Was the motivation to go for the stage, or partly to give yourself a big workout at this point of the season in the build-up to Lombardy? You’d said that is your big end of season goal…
DM: Well, I said all week that I wanted to win a stage and today was the day when I thought ‘maybe…’ Generally it is a case of trying every day. Once I lost time on general, I would just try every day. Today I had really good legs, a lot better than yesterday. I did try yesterday, but once the win was gone I just sat up to save energy to go again today. And I profited from that, I profited from having the easy final kilometres.
Lombardia is definitely on my mind all the time. I was taking super care on some of the descents today. There were some of the wet corners were very risky, I was thinking of the end of the season. But I would have loved to have won today.
VN: Are there more chances left for you in the stages ahead? In other words, does the route of the remaining stages look good for you?
DM: I think I showed today that I am going pretty well still, I am super-strong. I will try the breakaway every day. I don’t know about tomorrow, I might be cooked, but why not – we will give it a go. Obviously the crit might not be my best option, but there is no reason why I can’t go away on the flat stages and get in the break.
VN: It is a pretty good time for Irish cycling – you are doing this here and gearing up for Lombardy and having had a great season, while your first cousin Nicolas Roche is fifth overall in the Vuelta…
DM: Yes, it is amazing what Nico is doing in the Vuelta. It shows how much he has improved as a rider. I think psychologically, as well, he is so strong now. A lot of riding well in three week Tours relates to the psychological thing of staying there every day for three weeks. I am really proud of him, it is great to see and hopefully he can keep it up and take it to Madrid.