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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
MARTIN 20TH IN WORLD RANKINGS, GOING TO OLYMPICS, WAITING FOR TOUR SELECTION
By Shane Stokes
20 Jun 2012,
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Ireland’s Daniel Martin is a strong 20th in the UCI WorldTour rankings heading towards the Tour de France, for which he is hoping to be selected by the Garmin Barracuda team.
The strong climber lost out on the chance to take points in the recent Critérium du Dauphiné due to injuries from a crash and didn’t ride the more recent Tour de Suisse, but his total has held up well and he drops just one place.
If he is selected for the Tour as expected, both he and already-confirmed Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) can collect important points there. Roche finished an excellent tenth overall in Switzerland and edges into the standings as a result.
Both riders have been confirmed for the Olympic road race on July 28th, along with former Olympian David McCann.
The trio were originally nominated earlier this month by Cycling Ireland’s selectors but this was appealed by Irish road race and time trial champion Matt Brammeier, who felt he should have a place. The appeal panel didn’t agree, however, and so Roche, Martin and McCann will head to London 2012.
McCann will also do the time trial on August 1st. Martyn Irvine has also got an Olympic place; he will ride the omnium track event.
Apart from Martin, the rest of those riders will compete in the national road race championships in Clonmel later this week.
Martin opted to miss the race as he wanted to give himself time to recover from his Dauphiné injuries and to work hard on his form. “I hope to be selected for the Tour but am taking nothing for granted,” he told Irishcycling.com recently. “I was supposed to ride it a couple of years ago [2009 – ed.] but didn’t because of a knee problem. It’s only when I’m on the start line that I will be sure I’m taking part.”
The statement is a reflection of the frustration he experienced to miss out on that 2009 edition, as well as his non-selection in the years since. He won a stage and finished 13th overall in last year’s Vuelta, though, and this plus his strong performances since then show that he’s ready for the race.
He’s indicated that he is likely to chase stages and perhaps the King of the Mountains title, as well as riding in support of whomever is the team’s best GC rider.
His own chances in the overall standings are hampered by over 100 kilometres of individual time trials in the race.
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UCI WorldTour rankings:
Riders:
1 (1) RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin, KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) 404
2 (2) BOONEN Tom, OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) 366
3 (3) WIGGINS Bradley, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 335
4 (4) NIBALI Vincenzo, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 272
5 (6) SAGAN Peter, LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) 253
6 (5) SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel, EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) 252
7 (7) GERRANS Simon, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 210
8 (8) HESJEDAL Ryder, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 197
9 (9) ROGERS Michael, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 194
10 (17) KREUZIGER Roman, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 189
IRISH:
20 (19) MARTIN Daniel, GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) 132
133 (-) ROCHE Nicolas, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 4
Teams:
1 (1) SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) GBR, 803
2 (2) KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) RUS, 717
3 (3) LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) ITA, 657
4 (4) OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP (OPQ) BEL, 630
5 (5) ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) KAZ, 560
Other:
6 (6) GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) USA, 475
16 (16) AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) FRA, 158
Nations:
1 (1) SPAIN, 1,112
2 (2) ITALY, 946
3 (3) BELGIUM, 791
4 (4) AUSTRALIA, 590
5 (5) GREAT BRITAIN, 489
6 (6) NETHERLANDS, 431
Other:
16 (16) IRELAND, 136
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