IRISH CYLCING LEGEND Sean Kelly has hailed Dan Martin’s tactical astuteness after the Garmin-SHARP man ended the country’s 23-year wait for victory in the Tour of Lombardy.
Kelly, a three-time winner of the race (1983, 1985 and 1991) said that Martin’s ability to read a race and choose the right moment to attack has been the hallmark of his greatest wins in recent seasons.
“First of all to be there at the finish you have to be good and tactically he rode very cute, as he can do,” Kelly told TheScore.ie.
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“We didn’t see him for a moment when he bridged across to that group of leaders but he was there and he followed (at the back) and when the opportunity presented itself he didn’t hesitate and just went for it, that’s what you’ve got to be able to do; keep your powder dry and go for it at the right moment. He’s canny and cool in the final of a big one, that’s what he’s got and you either have that or you don’t.
You can talk all you want in the team briefing and have all the meetings about how and what to do but when some people get in there they lose all control, Martin doesn’t,” he added.
Though Martin missed the Tour de France after crashing out of the Giro d’Italia on the opening stage in May, as well as going down on the final bend at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April, Kelly believes yesterday’s win has saved his season.
“When you look at the year, it had been a disastrous one with bad luck, with the Liège and Giro crashes. He crashed in the Vuelta too and then again at Worlds but after all that bad luck, to get that win in the final Classic of the year, it turns the season into a great one.
“I think yesterday will give him even more satisfaction after a bad year, he pulled it out of the bag in the final big one, to win like he did gives him even more satisfaction.”
Martin will finish out the season with the Tour of Beijing stage race (10th-14th) followed by the one-day Japan Cup. And Kelly says he should continue to target both stage and one-day races, and not change his approach.
“I think he’s capable of doing real well in both, when you look at the Vuelta this year, the crash didn’t help the situation but he still finished in the top 10 (7th), he’s improving in that field all the time.
“I think he’s a bit of time yet to improve, maybe another year or two of improvement, how much is difficult to know, but in the big one-day races like a Liege or a Lombardy he’ll want even more of them. He can do extremely well in both.”
Sean Kelly praises Dan Martin's tactics after Tour of Lombardy win
IRISH CYLCING LEGEND Sean Kelly has hailed Dan Martin’s tactical astuteness after the Garmin-SHARP man ended the country’s 23-year wait for victory in the Tour of Lombardy.
Kelly, a three-time winner of the race (1983, 1985 and 1991) said that Martin’s ability to read a race and choose the right moment to attack has been the hallmark of his greatest wins in recent seasons.
“First of all to be there at the finish you have to be good and tactically he rode very cute, as he can do,” Kelly told TheScore.ie.
“We didn’t see him for a moment when he bridged across to that group of leaders but he was there and he followed (at the back) and when the opportunity presented itself he didn’t hesitate and just went for it, that’s what you’ve got to be able to do; keep your powder dry and go for it at the right moment. He’s canny and cool in the final of a big one, that’s what he’s got and you either have that or you don’t.
Though Martin missed the Tour de France after crashing out of the Giro d’Italia on the opening stage in May, as well as going down on the final bend at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April, Kelly believes yesterday’s win has saved his season.
“When you look at the year, it had been a disastrous one with bad luck, with the Liège and Giro crashes. He crashed in the Vuelta too and then again at Worlds but after all that bad luck, to get that win in the final Classic of the year, it turns the season into a great one.
“I think yesterday will give him even more satisfaction after a bad year, he pulled it out of the bag in the final big one, to win like he did gives him even more satisfaction.”
Martin will finish out the season with the Tour of Beijing stage race (10th-14th) followed by the one-day Japan Cup. And Kelly says he should continue to target both stage and one-day races, and not change his approach.
“I think he’s capable of doing real well in both, when you look at the Vuelta this year, the crash didn’t help the situation but he still finished in the top 10 (7th), he’s improving in that field all the time.
“I think he’s a bit of time yet to improve, maybe another year or two of improvement, how much is difficult to know, but in the big one-day races like a Liege or a Lombardy he’ll want even more of them. He can do extremely well in both.”
Dan Martin: ‘I always believed my luck would change’
Ireland’s Dan Martin sprints to Tour of Lombardy win
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Cycling Dan Martin Seán Kelly Tour of Lombardy