Dan Martin-King of the Mountains at the Vuelta?

Tobyglen

It would be a great achievement to win this jersey in a major tour. So what are his chances? I haven't been able to watch the tour much so can anyone give some insight?
He was robbed at the tour of Poland, the stages were too flat & sprinting obviously isn't his forte. Wonderful little climber.

ednwireland

Tobyglen wrote: »

It would be a great achievement to win this jersey in a major tour. So what are his chances? I haven't been able to watch the tour much so can anyone give some insight?
He was robbed at the tour of Poland, the stages were too flat & sprinting obviously isn't his forte. Wonderful little climber.

errr not really

mahoo

He's well down on GC after today so it'll probably be his goal now.

its hard to know how he's going to last a 3 week tour though. another 4 mountain top finishes so lots of points still up for grabs. hopefully he'll be able to get another stage win

Chips Lovell

mahoo wrote: »

He's well down on GC after today so it'll probably be his goal now.

its hard to know how he's going to last a 3 week tour though. another 4 mountain top finishes so lots of points still up for grabs. hopefully he'll be able to get another stage win

I don't think it will be. By all accounts this is Martin's audition for team leader on a Grand Tour. He won't be expected to win the thing, but will be expected to ride like a GC rider, i.e. staying in with the contenders day in, day out. With his weakest discipline out of the way, if he maintains is good form he can only move up. He may have lost enough today to miss out on a top ten, but if he sticks with the big guns over the next two weeks, he'll have achieved something. Mountains points are a distraction.

Lusk Doyle

Plus he might be let away once or twice if he breaks ala Thor due to the time diff to date.

Tobyglen

ednwireland wrote: »

errr not really

You should have watched it. Beaten by the very last sprint, the course was much different than other years & that's why a sprinter could win the tour. Course was widely acknowledged to be too flat.

I think winning the KOM jersey would be a bigger statement than finishing circa top 10 in classification. With his time trialing limitations he's never going to be a contender for winning grand tours. Roche is caught between 2 stools, he has no big wins & is never going to be a top 5 GC contender. Peleton also won't ever let him get away in breakaways. Hopefully Martin will get this balance correct.

happytramp

He'd have to lose a lot more time before he'd be let away in a break. Another stage win and another 3rd or 4th place would probably be seen as a great result for him. Would also help him hang onto the spotty jersey and get into 20th-15th place with time bonuses. Come on Dan!!

ednwireland

Tobyglen wrote: »

You should have watched it. Beaten by the very last sprint, the course was much different than other years & that's why a sprinter could win the tour. Course was widely acknowledged to be too flat.

err i did watch it and the last stage live, disappointing yes robbed no. sagan is a cracking rider, organisers make courses to suit riders, keep the gc open to the end (what happend in this case ) etc etc. didnt suit martin he did brilliantly to finish 2nd brilliant ride on the 2nd to last stage.

i just disagree with robbed

anyway as to martin, hes still only 25 and could still develop (how good his tt'ng can get is a big ? ) this vuelta he has been told to ride for gc so thats what hes going to do and this should tell him and the team a lot

Tobyglen

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/529910/dan-martin-delighted-with-king-of-the-mountains-jersey.html

It seems pretty clear he's targeting the KOM jersey & stage wins.

happytramp

Just imagine, an Irish 'King of the Mountains' Jersey winner in a grand tour. Awesome!!!