Irish pair geared up for Tour of Spain

CYCLING NEWS:IRISH DUO Daniel Martin and Philip Deignan will tomorrow begin the three-week Vuelta a España which, for the first time, will start outside the Iberian peninsula.

The Tour of Spain will get under way with a flat, 4.5 kilometre prologue on the motorbike race track in Assen, the Netherlands, and spends several days in that country and Belgium before the riders fly to Spain and continue the race there.

Martin and Deignan have shown good form of late, and will have ambitions of performing strongly.

Martin was fifth in the Grand Prix Ouest France in Plouay on Sunday, sprinting home in the same time as winner Simon Gerrans. It was arguably the best single-day performance by an Irish rider in two decades.

“It is a 240-kilometre ProTour race and riding well there kind of justified my choice in not going to the Tour of Ireland,” he told The Irish Times this week. “A win would have been nice, especially with the passing away of Paul Healion. I was winning with 75 metres to go but over-geared the sprint.”

Martin was undone by the gradual uphill rise to the line, and he felt he could possibly have taken the victory had he used a smaller gear. Still, he was upbeat before heading to the Netherlands for the Tour of Spain, saying he was in the best form of his career.

The 23-year-old had originally been scheduled to make his Grand Tour debut in the Tour de France, but pulled out days before due to tendonitis. He’s recovered and, all going to plan, is capable of a stage win plus a high overall finish.

Cervélo Test Team rider Philip Deignan is also targeting a stage victory in the Vuelta. He was fourth on stage one of the Tour of Ireland and then finished 12th overall last Sunday, ending the three-day race one minute and eight seconds behind the final victor Russell Downing (Candi TV Marshall’s Pasta). Like Martin, he is a climbing specialist and will aim not to lose significant time prior to the Vuelta’s return to Spain.

Ireland’s third major professional, Nicolas Roche, will not be competing in the Grand Tour. He rode well in the Tour de France and he and his team have decided to have a different type of preparation for the world championships. He is competing in the Tour du Poitou Charantes in France, netting 11th on Tuesday’s opening stage despite a crash, and is 32nd overall heading into today’s final stage. He will next race in the Tour of Britain.

Meanwhile, the organiser of the Tour of Ireland has said he is very satisfied with this year’s event. “It went very well,” said Alan Rushton this week. “The reaction from the public and the media was very good and the racing was spectacular.”

FIXTURES– Saturday:All-Ireland Hill Climb championships, Mamore Gap, starts noon; Connacht Youth League, Ballinrobe race course. Starts 10am. Veteran's Omnium championships, Sundrive Road. Racing starts 11am. Sunday:Irish senior 2 road race championships, Ballyliffin. Starts 1pm; IVCA TT Enfield, starts 9.15am; Duane Delaney memorial, Sundrive road. Racing starts 11am; An Post Seán Kelly Tour of Waterford.