There's no doubting Dan Martin's progression as a Grand Tour rider with the Quick-Step Floors team over the past couple of seasons; back-to-back top-ten finishes at the Tour de France speak for themselves. Yet on both occasions he was left with a lingering sense of 'what if?'
The Irishman speaks with genuine enthusiasm about his two years at the Belgian squad, about the family atmosphere and infectious winning mentality, but he knew that, even at 31, there's still untapped potential, and that in order to realise it, new horizons were needed. UAE Team Emirates, a new team, but already one of the most financially powerful, approached him with a plan, and a contract was signed in August.
"The opportunity I've got going forward, it takes the edge off the sadness," Martin told Cyclingnews and Cycling Weekly at the Tour of Britain, one of his final races with Quick-Step.
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"If you're sentimental about these things, it can hold your career back and this time I very much made the sporting decision, and went for the opportunity, and try to make the most of the best years of my career."
The clincher was the promise from the team's management to hand him a true leadership role. At Quick-Step, Martin was something of a lone ranger at the Tour de France in a team largely oriented around sprinter Marcel Kittel. Indeed, one of the what-if's from this year's Tour was when Martin lost nearly a minute in the stage 16 crosswinds – Quick-Step's bread and butter – while most of his teammates were at the back of the race with Kittel, chasing a lost cause.
"It's having a team to support me in the races I want to be good at, and going to the Tour de France as team leader," Martin said of his move to UAE.
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