On Sunday Dan Martin will bring his time at Slipstream Sports to a close with his final race for Cannondale-Garmin. As it happens, the Tour of Lombardy was Martin’s last major one-day success, when in 2014 he attacked before the line to take his second Monument win.
This time around, and after an injury-induced break, Martin heads into Lombardy with his form as somewhat of an unknown. He has only raced once – Milan-Turin – since his crash and abandonment at the Vuelta a Espana last month, but if his 14th place finish on Thursday is anything to go by he will still start Lombardy as a rider to watch.
“It’s a race that I’ve done well in a number of times and one that I really enjoy,” Martin told Cyclingnews from his hotel room on Friday.
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“I’m not feeling any pressure at all and simply enjoying the race gives me the greatest motivation of all. I love riding the race, and it’s going to be my last one with Slipstream Sports. It’s going to be an emotional day for a number of reasons.”
After crashing out of the Vuelta last month Martin took roughly a week off the bike and spent time at altitude in preparation of Sunday’s race. It wasn’t entirely clear that he would be fit or healthy enough, but Thursday’s race proved that his fitness is there. Lombardy, of course, is no walk in the park, and in terms of distance and terrain, it’s far harder than Milan Turin. However, Martin is desperate to end his season on some form of a high, especially with it being his last hit-out for Cannondale.
“I’ve not trained for the last five weeks just so that I can ride round,” he said. “Tomorrow is really important to me and I’ve had it in the back of my mind for the last three weeks. I’ve been training in Andorra, doing a lot of climbing, and I’m really strong. It’s just a case of whether I can make that race-winning move.
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