One step at a time for Martin despite career best finish

By George Scott, Sportsbeat

IRELAND'S Daniel Martin insists it's one step at a time despite ending his second professional season with an eighth place finish at the Giro di Lombardia.

IN THE BLOOD: Dan Martin is determined to follow in the footsteps of Triple Crown winner and uncle Stephen Roche

The Garmin-Slipstream rider endured a frustrating start to a season punctuated by illness and injury but completed his first Grand Tour with a 53rd place finish in September's Vuelta a Espana.

And the 23-year-old recorded his best career result to date in Italy - the fifth and final Monument classic of the season.

But Martin insists he is keeping his feet on the ground despite having one eye on a Tour de France debut in 2010 - or he will have team-mate David Millar to answer to.

"David lives in Girona full-time and I spent a lot of time with him last winter and he gives me a lot of advice," said Martin.  

"That's a real strength of this team because they've all been there before and you can ask anyone for help.

"They protect me from people putting pressure on me because it's very easy to get carried away when everyone's talking about you but they always put it in perspective.

"Before the Vuelta this year David said to me: ‘You're not even going to be riding for the general classifications this year so don't even think about it - this will be the hardest thing you'll ever do.'

"Everybody says the first Grand Tour brings you on so much and makes you stronger for the following year so we're on for a pretty exciting 12 months.

"I just want to focus on the winter ahead and not think too much about next year but obviously your mind does drift with things like the Tour de France route.

"I'm going to the Giro d'Italia presentation on October 24 and I'll have a look at it, assess things and see what the team wants of me.

"It'd possibly be too much to do two Grand Tours in a season because I'm still young so maybe I'll have to aim for just one of them, maybe the Tour de France next year."

Cycling is undoubtedly in Martin's blood - he is the nephew of Triple Crown winner Stephen Roche, while his cousin Nicolas Roche finished 23rd at this year's Tour de France. 

And Martin insists he was always destined to become a cyclist - but is fully aware of the the long and winding road ahead of him.

"As an amateur I did it the hard way - I grew up in a team in France," he added.

"I went there when I was 18 and basically you have to drive to all the races so you get used to spending anything up to 12 hours in the car the day before a race," he added.

"The bit that people don't see is that some days at the Vuelta we'd leave the hotel at 10am, there'd be a two hour drive to the start, race for six hours, then two hours back to the hotel.

"That's the bit that tires you out rather than the racing. It isn't so much physical, it's mental - you just eat, race, sleep.

"There's no time for mental shutdown but it's the same for everybody, that's the way you have to look at it.

"And the way my family helped was with my mental attitude. There was never any question in my mind that I was going to be professional.

"I've got a very positive attitude to everything I do so that definitely pushes me on.

"I've grown up watching cycling on the television all the time so that's helped me understand the tactics and now I've got the strength to act on that knowledge."