Dan Martin retires

mrb123
mrb123 Posts: 4,819
in Pro race
End of the road for Dan then. A great career, the LBL win perhaps the highlight for me. Never quite there as a GT contender but always gave it a go.

It sounded like his heart wasn't in it any more after that Giro gravel stage earlier in the year.

Comments

  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    He did look like a rider that didn't want to take the risks any more that day on the gravel but his best grand tour finish was only last year so he's going out still pretty much at the top.

    A couple of monuments is a great return on a career - not many British born riders who top that.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,572
    Sad to see him retire, but having his twins as changed his outlook.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    His statement

    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,698
    Might not have ever been top tier but made a bloody good fist at being second tier.

    All credit to him. Lets see a famous victory in Bodmin please!
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Classy rider. I wish he’d focused more on the one day races.
    _
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,655
    rick_chasey said:

    Classy rider. I wish he’d focused more on the one day races.

    Well the one day races he was good in were those that typically cross over well with gc climbers. They were also getting dominated by Valverde...

    I think he's got an excellent palmares, all things considered
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • gregster04
    gregster04 Posts: 1,756
    Mad_Malx said:

    One of the great moments in cycling


    I still have this picture on the wall in my bike shed. Not easy to attain a place on that wall but I’ve always had a soft spot for Dan. Brilliant attitude, superb cyclist and just a great bloke. I’m glad he’s going out whilst he’s still competitive and on his own terms.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Now I feel really old. His parents were regular attendees at of club annual dinner when dad was a little kid. I felt old enough when he turned pro!
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    rick_chasey said:

    Classy rider. I wish he’d focused more on the one day races.

    Not really enough of them that suited him.
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    A gutsy rider who's had a great career: stage wins and top 10 overalls in every GT, two monument wins and 5 other podiums, lots of other good wins. Most riders would bite your hand off for that palmares.

    Really pleased to see him go out on his terms at a time that's right for him and his family.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Entertaining rider .
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • yorkshireraw
    yorkshireraw Posts: 1,632
    mididoctors said:

    Entertaining rider .

    His rinsing of Fuglsang at the end of the 2013 Tour stage (the one with all the chaos, where Froome was isolated, Kennaugh went into the trees, and Movistar were, well, Movistar) remains a highlight.
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,233
    There's a recording of a chat on the subject between Dan and Ned Boulting on the (Saturday?) episode of Never Strays Far(thing) podcast. Interesting.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    yorkshireraw said:

    mididoctors said:

    Entertaining rider .

    His rinsing of Fuglsang at the end of the 2013 Tour stage (the one with all the chaos, where Froome was isolated, Kennaugh went into the trees, and Movistar were, well, Movistar) remains a highlight.
    That was a stage .... Froome never should have won That tour . Valverde not sacrificing himself attacking on the flat to let nairo man counter on the climb .... I remember that Dan Martin move after nairo couldn't drop froome
    How is froome still in the jersey was my comment at the time
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    If you watch his LBL and his Lombardi wins, they're a really good example of how to ride those races tactically.

    Of all the skills he had, I think the best was his ability to attack at the right moment. Quite a few of his wins have come from that.

    I really rated his day-race-brain and I wish he'd not done them on the side and had the GT efforts as his priority, as his legs didn't really allow him to use that brain much.
    _
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    It would have been nice if just once he had been well positioned on the Mur at Fleche. He was routinely one of the fastest but coming from about ten rows back
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    edited September 2021
    rick_chasey said:

    If you watch his LBL and his Lombardi wins, they're a really good example of how to ride those races tactically.

    Of all the skills he had, I think the best was his ability to attack at the right moment. Quite a few of his wins have come from that.

    I really rated his day-race-brain and I wish he'd not done them on the side and had the GT efforts as his priority, as his legs didn't really allow him to use that brain much.

    I would say he lost more than he won by quite often going too early though (or too late as Rich says).
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    Also a bizarre crash away from a 2nd LBL in 2014
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • The13thcog
    The13thcog Posts: 22
    Not surprised. Was never really a GT contender, but loved watching him ride.

    I saw an interview with him at the end of a dodgy GT stage this year, can't remember which one, but he basically said he wasn't prepared to risk it anymore, that he didn't need to do this sh*te anymore...he was proper p*seed off. I remember thinking at the time oooh, that sounds like a man who doesn't care if he gets fired, seeing as his bosses were probably watching.

    Maybe the spark had just gone for him.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,475
    edited September 2021
    Great career. He is the rich man's climby boy version of Niki Terpstra! ;)
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,475
    edited September 2021
    tailwindhome said:

    Also a bizarre crash away from a 2nd LBL in 2014

    Wasn't that just his pedal strike from pedaling too early after taking the corner?
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • bm5
    bm5 Posts: 586
    That interview was in the Giro, gravel stage I think. Agree totally that he gave off “I’ve had enough” vibes and so not surprising to see him retire.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,334
    Always thought Dan Martin was just a little bit too good to have got the results he deserved. If he'd been less dangerous people would have given him a bit more slack, and he'd have won more. The first sign something was going on in a stage was often Dan Martin starting to sniff around - glad he's getting to walk out of the sport on his own terms and not feeling like there's anything left to do out on the road.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • yorkshireraw
    yorkshireraw Posts: 1,632
    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Always thought Dan Martin was just a little bit too good to have got the results he deserved. If he'd been less dangerous people would have given him a bit more slack, and he'd have won more. The first sign something was going on in a stage was often Dan Martin starting to sniff around - glad he's getting to walk out of the sport on his own terms and not feeling like there's anything left to do out on the road.

    15 of his 22 wins were Pro-tour or World tour level.

    As a contrast (not to pick on him, just someone who came to mind) Tyler Farrar had 11 PT / WT wins out of 33 pro wins.

    Dan didn't win that often, but tended to win big.

    As an aside, I wonder if he'll ride Paris-Roubaix - he said after the cobbled stage in 2018 Tour he'd enjoyed it (sort of) and would maybe give it a go one day. It would be nearly the last race of his career (assuming he goes to Lombardi the following week).
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Has Dan ever won a stage race?
    yorkshireraw said:

    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Always thought Dan Martin was just a little bit too good to have got the results he deserved. If he'd been less dangerous people would have given him a bit more slack, and he'd have won more. The first sign something was going on in a stage was often Dan Martin starting to sniff around - glad he's getting to walk out of the sport on his own terms and not feeling like there's anything left to do out on the road.

    15 of his 22 wins were Pro-tour or World tour level.

    As a contrast (not to pick on him, just someone who came to mind) Tyler Farrar had 11 PT / WT wins out of 33 pro wins.

    Dan didn't win that often, but tended to win big.

    As an aside, I wonder if he'll ride Paris-Roubaix - he said after the cobbled stage in 2018 Tour he'd enjoyed it (sort of) and would maybe give it a go one day. It would be nearly the last race of his career (assuming he goes to Lombardi the following week).
    Yeah they never let him go from far out

    Has Dan ever won a stage race?

    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    edited September 2021
    mididoctors said:



    Has Dan ever won a stage race?

    Catalunya, Poland and Route du Sud

    (And the Junior Tour of Wales ahead of Geraint Thomas)
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Yes... route de sud and catalunya... And tour of Poland?
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    mididoctors said:

    Yes... route de sud and catalunya... And tour of Poland?


    In 2010. He was second to Sagan the year after too

    https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=19&y=2010
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    That hilly saw tooth lappy stage they always put in I guess
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm

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