CYCLING TOUR OF IRELAND PREVIEWMOTIVATED BY his 10th place overall in the Tour of Portugal, national road race champion Daniel Martin will line out in the Tour of Ireland today hoping for a strong performance. The route of the race is flatter than the specialist climber would like, but he is nevertheless motivated to ride well in the five-day, 2.1-ranked event.
"I was surprised how Portugal went, because I was going to use it as a training race for here," he said at the pre-race press conference yesterday. "I was a bit sick, and couldn't train for a week, so I felt a bit flat. But I ended up in the best young rider's jersey and so I had to race then.
"It was an unreal race - it just got faster and faster and faster every day. I was a bit cooked by the end of each stage. I am a bit tired from that now, so we will have to see how it goes this week."
First-year pro Martin made a huge impression when he won the Route du Sud in June, then followed that up with a dominant display in the national road race championships. He's clearly a very big talent; he'd prefer tougher climbs in the Tour of Ireland, but he and his Garmin Chipotle squad are here determined to leave a big impression.
"The aim is for someone from the team to win it," he said. "That's the target."
Some of the top squads in the world are taking part, with quadruple Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish leading the charge of the Columbia squad. Martin and David Millar are part of a strong Garmin Chipotle selection, while Tinkoff Credit Systems, CSF Group Navigare, Rabobank and Team Type 1 are some of the strong overseas teams.
Irish hopes lie with Martin, the national team selection led by David McCann and Paul Griffin, the An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Seán Kelly team of FBD Insurance Rás winner Stephen Gallagher and national road race silver medallist Páidí O'Brien, plus the Pezula Racing squad of Olympian David O'Loughlin and Ciarán Power.
The race begins with a 192-kilometre stage from Dublin to Waterford, taking in the climbs of Djouce up to Roundwood and Mount Leinster, and then finishing in the quays.
Day two should also result in a bunch finish, as the 158-kilometre leg travels along rolling roads en route from Thurles to Loughrea.
Things get tougher on stage three, a 210-kilometre route from Ballinrobe to Galway, as the riders will face the category-two climb of Finny plus two other tough ascents. As was the case last year, the stage will finish in Salthill.
It is then followed by a tough, 186-kilometre race from Limerick to Dingle, crossing the category one Connor Pass before heading on to the first crossing of the finish line. The peloton will then take in a tough, 36-kilometre finishing loop out by Dún Chaoin and the steep climb of Mam Clasach, before once again heading for Dingle and finishing with an uphill sprint there.
The final stage will be the big decider. It starts in Killarney and covers 155 kilometres, this distance including four laps of a gruelling, 17-kilometre finishing circuit.
Each of these will take in the 25 per cent gradient wall of St Patrick's Hill, plus another new climb on the other side of the Lee, making it entirely possible the lead could change in the final moments of the 900-kilometre event.
TOUR OF IRELAND:Today Stage One, Dublin-Waterford, 192km; Tomorrow: Stage Two, Thurles-Loughrea, 158km; Friday: Stage Three, Ballinrobe-Galway, 201km; Saturday: Stage Four, Limerick-Dingle, 186km; Sunday: Stage five, Killarney-Cork, 144km.
