Martin enjoys career highlight by taking Volta a Catalunya in Barcelona

Irish pro Dan Martin marked himself out as one of the top riders in world cycling yesterday when he finished out as the overall winner of the top-ranked Volta a Catalunya in Spain. The Garmin-Sharp rider emulated the 1984 and 1986 successes of Sean Kelly in the race, taking another Irish victory 27 years later, and in doing so he overcame some formidable competition.

He finished seventeen seconds clear of Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) the Catalan rider who was the UCI's top-ranked rider last year in winning the overall WorldTour classification. Those behind him also included the fifth-placed Bradley Wiggins (Sky), who last season took the Tour de France, Olympic time trial and several other top events.

In beating riders of that calibre, Martin has proved that he is a major contender for the sport's top races, although he accepts that at 26, it may take him another year or two to get the consistency needed to challenge for the Tour de France.

With the race finishing with eight ascents of the tough Montjuic hill in Barcelona, the stage seemed tailor-made for Rodriguez, who was born in the city. He's a very strong, punchy rider who excels on short, sharp climbs like Montjuic, but was unable to gain any time on his Irish rival.

"His team was super aggressive all day. They rode really hard at the start and obviously they threw a lot at us," Martin told the Irish Times yesterday after his win. "But I always had a couple of team-mates with me at all times…I never panicked and just felt in control all day.

"The first couple of laps on the circuit we rode so hard that I was starting to get worried, because I was really starting to hurt. But then the pace seemed to slacken a bit…I think that showed the fatigue of what has been a really hard week of racing here, nobody really had any explosiveness left.

"That really played into my hands. Joaquim attacked a couple of times on the climb but I was just straight onto his wheel, and that was it."

The stage was won by the Dutchman Thomas de Gendt, who went clear as part of a breakaway move 22 kilometres from the end. Alarm bells started ringing seven kilometres later when Michele Scarponi (Lampre Merida) jumped across to the break; the 2011 Giro d'Italia winner had started the day fifth overall, 55 seconds back, and was a dangerman for the final overall victory.

Martin didn't panic, though, with his team driving the pace to limit the gains, and then the Irish rider being strong enough when Rodriguez gave it everything the final time up the climb.

His group finished 21 seconds behind de Gendt, containing the threat posed by Scarponi, and thus sealing Martin's overall victory.

Second overall twice in the past, the result is a huge one for the Girona-based rider. He took the overall lead on Thursday when he won the toughest stage from a break, holding off the other challengers chasing behind, and after that managed to build what was an initial ten second lead by taking time bonuses and avoiding splits at the end of stages.

"I felt a huge sense of relief once it was over," he said. "This is essentially my home race, and also the team's home race. We had some really tough competition this year, higher than I expected, and to win is really good for my confidence. The lineup here is like a who's who of cycling, and it shows that I've reached a new level."

Martin will next target the prestigious Ardennes Classics, the trio of the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He was sixth and fifth respectively in the latter two last year, but had hurt his back badly in a crash in the Volta a Catalunya.

"I am definitely coming out of his race in better shape than I was last year, as I was a bit of a mess after my crash last year in this race,"

he said. "Hopefully I will just stay healthy in the next couple of weeks and be able to get some real quality specific training. If so, I should be in really good shape for the three Ardennes Classics."

After that, the Tour de France will be another goal. He rode that race for the first time last year and if things go well between now and the start on June 29th, a stage win or two and a solid overall performance could be the next step in his upward rise in the sport. Right now, though, he just wants to savour what has been a very impressive win.