Etixx-QuickStep has announced its squad for the 2016 Tour of Britain with Dan Martin its trump card for the nine-stage 2.HC race. It will be Martin's first appearance at the race since 2013 when he finished in 13th place overall. The 30-year-old will be riding his first stage race since the Tour de France in July when he placed 9th.
"Doing the Tour de France and the Olympic Games was very tiring, physically and mentally," said Martin, who was 13th in Rio. "After the road race, I stayed in Rio to recover and follow my girlfriend, who was competing at the Olympics. It was nice, I cleaned up my mind and once I returned home I started building up for the last part of the season.
Martin has won stages of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in 2016 and will be aiming for his first win on British soil at the 2.HC race.
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"Even though I don't know what to expect from this race, I am keen on honouring it with a win, especially as in the past I came close to a victory, but missed out on one. The team is strong, so let's see what we're going to do," added Martin.
In the last three editions of the Tour of Britain, Etixx-QuickStep have won three stages of the race and they bring a squad capable of matching those feats. Former stage winner Julien Vermote is included on the roster with Maximiliano Richeze an option for the sprints and Tony Martin aiming for success in the Bristol time trial. The versatile Lukasz Wisniowski, who moves to Sky in 2017, will also be taking part.
Adrien Costa makes his first appearance with Etixx-QuickStep as a stagiaire and completes the roster after third place overall at the Tour de l'Avenir.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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