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Martin earned a good break

CYCLING NEWS ROUND-UP: GARMIN CHIPOTLE rider Daniel Martin has completed his first year as a professional and is easing back…

Fri Oct 24 2008 - 01:00

CYCLING NEWS ROUND-UP:GARMIN CHIPOTLE rider Daniel Martin has completed his first year as a professional and is easing back on his training in order to recharge his batteries after a long but successful season, writes Shane Stokes

The 22-year-old had an excellent debut in the paid ranks, winning the prestigious Route du Sud stage race, dominating the Irish road race championships, finishing fourth in the Tour of Britain and placing 10h in the Tour of Portugal.

Newcomers to the professional scene generally spend a season or two getting used to the higher level, but Martin adopted far quicker than was expected.

"I am quite surprised, but then again I have got an awesome team around me and it is easy to do it (ride well) in this team environment," he said, with considerable modesty. "I never really expected to be that competitive so early. Obviously you train hard and you hope."

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Despite some high-profile scandals this year, pro cycling is generally regarded as being quite a bit cleaner than it was before. Martin rides for a team which has a very rigorous anti-doping system in place and which was set up with the aim of riding in a transparent manner. He thinks the changing environment has helped riders like him.

"A lot of people have said that it wouldn't have been possible for a first-year pro to do so well five or six years ago. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. But I think you can definitely see that there are a lot of young guys coming through now, winning a lot of races.

"Of course, I didn't really go into the season with any big expectations. You can't really. I had to just try and keep cycling for fun because, when I am having fun, the results tend to happen. And that seems to have paid off this year."

Although Martin competes with an Irish racing licence, his parents live near Birmingham and he grew up there. His mother is the sister of Stephen Roche. During the season he is based in Girona, but has gone back to England prior to a team training camp in Colorado next month.

He'll then knuckle down to the training, building form before the start of the new season. His goal is to ride a three-week Grand Tour in 2009, although whether that's the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a España or the Tour de France remains to be decided.