A new man for all seasons

The Polish town of Ustron is unlikely to figure on most people’s list of top ten holiday destinations and is not exactly a location that naturally lends itself to the dreams and aspirations of impressionable young cyclists.

The surrounding mountain range is testing by any standards but remains a poor relation to the hallowed slopes of Alpe d’Huez, Mont Zoncolan or the Bola del Mundo that have forged the careers of the sport’s great champions.

The town itself is characterised by health resorts and pyramid shaped hotels which present a surprisingly progressive and futuristic outlook on life. The Poles sell it as the ideal place for rebirth and renewal.

That marketing spiel is unlikely to have registered with Garmin-Transitions rider Dan Martin last August as he surveyed the climb to the town on the morning of stage five of this year’s Tour of Poland, but the proof that he left the town a new man is not in any doubt.

Later that afternoon the then 23 year old catapulted himself off the front of a lead group as it negotiated the steepest section of the eight kilometre climb to the finish. The perfectly timed attack after the five first category climbs that had been sandwiched into the decisive 149 kilometre stage changed everything.
 
By the finish Martin was 20 seconds clear with his solo victory putting him into the race leader’s jersey which he successfully defended over the next two stages to deliver not only the biggest win of his professional career but his team’s first overall win in a Pro Tour stage race.

“It’s hard to overlook Poland, what it meant to me personally and to the team. I didn’t enjoy it at the time because of the stress factor that comes with riding to win the race but that is where the season began and my confidence grew from that.

“It was special. It was a real team effort and everyone on the team backed me to the hilt, even before I won the stage and took the race lead. It proved to me that I could be at the front of the race,” he told Irish Pro Cycling as he reflected on the victory which took his career to a new level.

While the result revealed what he was capable of achieving it also confirmed that he could no longer ignore the allergies that have had a tradition of hampering his form and undermining his potential during the spring.

Martin has undergone two operations in Girona during the past month after specialists diagnosed that the lining of his nose was highly sensitive to pollen. The problem left him fifteen to twenty heartbeats below his maximum right the way through the spring classics and Paris Nice.

“This year has shown me how good I can get but the first few months did not go that well,” admitted Martin who placed 18th at Fleche Wallonne and 71st at Paris Nice despite an encouraging earlier performance at the Tour of the Basque Country where he finished 15th overall.

His health problems continued to niggle during his debut at the Giro d’Italia where a standout performance on the notoriously steep Monte Zoncolan saw him finish ninth behind stage and eventual race winner Ivan Basso.

“The Giro was incredibly difficult, mentally and physically. I was still struggling with allergies. With allergies you never manage to be at your best. You can have the best medication but it never eradicates it completely.

“I enjoyed Monte Zoncolan because I’ve never climbed the really steep stuff like that. It improved my strength and showed how I could push myself but I had a really difficult last couple of days. I was destroyed after the Giro and it took time to recover,” he said.

The experience was invaluable in defining his limits and in learning how deep he could go and how quickly he could recover and having taken a break for most of June Martin returned to racing refreshed and renewed.

He capped off a short stay with family relatives in Dublin with a commanding win at the Halfords Tour series and third place at the national road race championship before the Brixia Tour where a steady performance saw him finish third overall. 

Those results laid the foundations for his success at the Tour of Poland and Tre Valli Varesine where Martin believes that he also made significant progress in building his own confidence and that of his teammates in his ability to deliver results.

“It is a case of delivering. A couple of the guys have said to me that when I say I’m good at a race that they have confidence that I will be good at that race. They say I’ll back this guy because he is reliable which is very nice to hear because that gives me more confidence.

“That in itself has also given me the confidence to speak up and say ‘boys I can do it today’ when I believe that I can do something in a race. For such a young rider to have that backing is a very nice feeling and I hope it can continue,” he said.

With both a Vuelta á Espana and Giro d’Italia now under his belt there is a growing expectation that Martin will be given an opportunity during 2011 to make up for the disappointment of having to withdraw from the 2009 Tour de France due to tendinitis.

Although, the 24 year old is quick to point out that the strength in-depth of the newly formed Garmin-Cervelo Team will make it hard to secure one of the nine places on the Tour team with world champion Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler having joined the formidable line-up of riders such as Ryder Hesjedal, Tyler Farrar, Christian Vande Velde, Johan Van Summeren and David Zabriskie.

“Every year I feel stronger and you improve each year. People talk about muscle memory, about your body learning to adapt and respond to what you’re asking of it and that’s true but we will have to wait and see what happens.

“We have one of the strongest teams in the world. In every race we’re going to have two or three potential team leaders or two or three favourites for a race. I hope to do well at the Ardennes because the atmosphere and parcours suits me but I’m not looking any further than April for now,” Martin explained.

While he has yet to discuss his race programme with the team he hinted that he may instead focus on the Vuelta á Espana where stage wins and a place in the top ten overall could be set as realistic objectives.

“It is going to be difficult to make the Tour team but if I’m good enough I’m sure the team will take me. If not I’d love to ride the Vuelta. The 2011 course is much tougher and the Vuelta would be a good objective for me, especially the way I have shown form in September,” he said.

For the time being Martin is focused on getting back into shape having recuperated from surgery and is benefitting from the experience of teammate David Millar in learning how to recover from one season to prepare for another.

“David is helping me a lot with just learning how to chill out and get the balance right. When you think about it we don’t race over four hours until late April or May, maybe with a few stages in Paris Nice, but the point is you don’t need to be doing massive rides because the base is there and I’m sitting on that from last season,” he explained.

“I was consistently good from June, from the nationals, all the way to the Japan Cup in late October when I won again. It’s nice to have that in the back of my mind. This season has given me massive confidence and I will take all that into the New Year,” he added.

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