Dan Martin Rides from Brixia to Poland
The five-stage Brixia Tour was held from Wednesday July 21st to Sunday July 25th in Brixia, Italy. Domenico Pozzovivo took over the general classification leadership after the second stage and held it until the end of the race. Morris Possoni climbed from 3rd place to 2nd in the fourth stage, while Irishman Daniel Martin jumped from 6th to 3rd the same day. The top three stood on the podium together after being uncontested in the fifth stage. Martin stood in 3rd place overall, 2:39 behind Pozzovivo, and 49 seconds behind Possoni. Possoni’s fellow Team Sky rider Chris Sutton sprinted for a win in Stage 3.
"It was nice to win again but the boys were incredible and I couldn't have done it without them," said Sutton. "I'd put myself forward this morning and they made me road captain, which meant I was dictating how we rode throughout the stage.”
In the fourth stage, Pozzovivo proved he was the best climber in the race with a solo victory at the summit finish, 53 seconds ahead of Martin and 54 ahead of Possoni on the day that cemented the podium spots for the trio despite the fifth stage going to sprinter Roberto Ferrari. It was the Tour winner’s second stage victory of the race after Stage 2.
"At 10 km from the finish, at the start of the climb, I thought that sometimes the best defense is to attack, so I did," said Pozzovivo. "The team did a tremendous job today and the best way to repay them was to win again.”
Martin finished sixth in the short opening stage last Wednesday, and stood in 6th overall until Stage 4. The 23 year-old Irishman finished the fifth stage casually, about halfway back in the peloton, already satisfied with his performance in the Brixia Tour, which he rode instead of participating in the Tour de France.
“This result is a great sign for my future races. After the nationals I took one week’s rest and didn't even look at a bike,” he said. “I then eased back into training, so it took a couple of stages to blow the cobwebs away," added Martin.
His performance in the Brixia Tour assured the Irishman that he is now targeting the right kind of rest for his current level. This season, he finished first in two events of the Halfords Tour Series, but then had a disappointing performance in the Giro d’Italia, his first Grand Tour. He plans to spend the rest of the season targeting short stage races instead of tackling the Vuelta a Espana, the third Grand Tour, feeling that he is not ready for the three-week stage race yet.
“However to get third in what was effectively a comeback race for me, and a race completed at very high speeds on tough circuits shows the progress I've made. For me it's a big relief as I've struggled with allergies all year and feel I can really open up now and get everything out of myself, which is exciting," said Martin.
Martin was the British National Junior Road Race Champion in 2004, before returning to Ireland. He is the brother of professional cyclist Tom Martin and cousin of Nicolas Roche, who finished 15th in this year’s Tour de France, and is the son of the 1987 triple-crown winner Stephen Roche. Martin became the Irish National Road Race Champion in his first professional year. His breakthrough performance was winning the 2008 Route du Sud. He was second in the 2009 Volta a Catalunya and third overall in the Tour of the Mediterranean. At the end of the 2009 season, he reached a UCI World Ranking of 35th.
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