Dan Martin discussion thread

[cocteau_ireland]

est rider in the world

 

[can3478]

Re:

Seeing him interviewed after stage 12 yesterday, my wife looked at Dan's face and said "he looks like a 60 year old man!"

I'm not going to show her this clip of him after getting off his bike in Foix today; http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/video-dan-martin-crippled-back-pain-tour-stage-legend/

Oh the poor man, I hope he will recover quickly. He has a chance to podium this year.

 

[MovistarRider]

The warrior lion heart:

Best rider of 2017's TDF thus far!

 

[yaco]

Some on this forum questioned Quick Step for supporting his GC aspirations. He could be leading the race except for the crash.

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

Some on this forum questioned Quick Step for supporting his GC aspirations. He could be leading the race except for the crash.

He could be on the podium, I doubt about leading the race. And if he was leading at some point, he would have absolutely no team to defend that lead. His only helper is Brambilla in the mountains. Sure, Gilbert, Stybar or Bauer will do as much as they can but as soon as the high mountains start they are dropped. So somewhere between 3 and 5 is the best he could do with this team even if healthy. Still a great Tour by Dan and I love his fighting spirit

 

[happytramp]

I think he's too good not to be supported by his team at all... Podium in P-N, Dauphine, and what likely could have been a podium at the Tour.... I wonder should he look at moving to a team not so focused on classics and sprints?... Especially since they ready have allaphilipe and Gilbert on their books.

 

[yaco]

Re:

I think he's too good not to be supported by his team at all... Podium in P-N, Dauphine, and what likely could have been a podium at the Tour.... I wonder should he look at moving to a team not so focused on classics and sprints?... Especially since they ready have allaphilipe and Gilbert on their books.

Reckon Quick Step is a good team for Martin. What I you need is two strong and reliable mountain domestics.

 

[Gloin22]

Re: Re:

I think he's too good not to be supported by his team at all... Podium in P-N, Dauphine, and what likely could have been a podium at the Tour.... I wonder should he look at moving to a team not so focused on classics and sprints?... Especially since they ready have allaphilipe and Gilbert on their books.

Reckon Quick Step is a good team for Martin. What I you need is two strong and reliable mountain domestics.

Aye, Martin will never be in the lead, he doesn't need a train, just two pure climbers . Hope they get it for him he deserves it

 

[can3478]

Way to go Dan!

 

[movingtarget]

Another great ride. Two days ago he got off the bike like a cripple, it seems he is having muscular problems in his back.

 

[StephenC2020]

Without the crash I'm pretty sure he'd only be 20-30 seconds down on Froome and in with a great shot at a podium. I guess he still has an outside shot at the podium but still a shame.

Great to see such attacking spirit though. He's always attacking for 10 seconds here and there when everyone else just sits and waits. Might not be the wisest but great for entertainment value.

 

[Leinster]

Re:

Without the crash I'm pretty sure he'd only be 20-30 seconds down on Froome and in with a great shot at a podium. I guess he still has an outside shot at the podium but still a shame.

Great to see such attacking spirit though. He's always attacking for 10 seconds here and there when everyone else just sits and waits. Might not be the wisest but great for entertainment value.

Without the crash he wouldn't have to go chasing these 10-12 second gain in the last 5 km of each stage, he could be sitting on in a comfy 2nd, 3rd spot right now biding his time and saving energy for the Izoard and Galibier stages. Those are the real challenges ahead of him now.

It's a shame he doesn't have another climber on board to help him, but realistically who do QS have to send? Alaphilippe would surely have been there but for his injury, De la Cruz is presumably riding the Vuelta, Jungels already had his brilliant ride at the Giro this year.

At the same time, riding for a classics-specializing team helped him to 2nd at Flèche and Liege this year, his team could have done no more for him, he just ran into an on-fire Valverde. He's having a great season, and an amazing Tour.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Some on this forum questioned Quick Step for supporting his GC aspirations. He could be leading the race except for the crash.

Dan Martin himself gave the best response: "It's all what if, you know. I might have been in yellow and then lost five minutes because everyone attacks the hell out of me. the situation is the situation, and we're always going to wonder, what if? But this is the hand we've been dealt. Maybe all these seconds I've been picking up, they would never have let me go".

 

[yetiyeti]

Re: Re:

Some on this forum questioned Quick Step for supporting his GC aspirations. He could be leading the race except for the crash.

Dan Martin himself gave the best response: "It's all what if, you know. I might have been in yellow and then lost five minutes because everyone attacks the hell out of me. the situation is the situation, and we're always going to wonder, what if? But this is the hand we've been dealt. Maybe all these seconds I've been picking up, they would never have let me go".

Classy response. That'll gain him a few more fans - at least it should.

 

[RedheadDane]

He might not be able to walk (upright), but he sure can ride his bike!

Luckily it's the second that's his job.

 

[DanielSong39]

He'll have to get lucky in a break to win the Tour. Not likely but better chance of doing that than out-accelerating Froome/Aru/Bardet in the last 3km of a steep climb.

At least Brambilla is someone who can help him there.

 

[happytramp]

In with a shout of most aggressive rider possibly?

 

[RedheadDane]

In with a shout of most aggressive rider possibly?

Don't think shouting will help. He might have a shot, though.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

In with a shout of most aggressive rider possibly?

Don't think shouting will help. He might have a shot, though.

In with a shout is also an acceptable idiomatic usage.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Amusing to see De Gendt and Geschke help him out today. It pays to be liked I suppose.

 

[AICA ribonucleotide]

What team do you think Martin should go to next year? Trek?

 

[Leinster]

Re:

What team do you think Martin should go to next year? Trek?

BMC had loads of guys who made the split today, and they don't have anyone to compete with him for GC leadership.

 

[sir fly]

Such a shame he's coming into high mountains this Tour needing to make up time.

 

[Kazistuta]

Re: Re:

What team do you think Martin should go to next year? Trek?

BMC had loads of guys who made the split today, and they don't have anyone to compete with him for GC leadership.

Except for the guy that took Dannyboy out on the descent from Mont du Chat?

 

[Ruby United]

Re: Re:

What team do you think Martin should go to next year? Trek?

BMC had loads of guys who made the split today, and they don't have anyone to compete with him for GC leadership.

I can't tell if this post is sarcastic or serious.