Dan Martin: There are no egos at Israel Start-Up Nation - we're still underdogs

Tour de France 2020 - 107th Edition - 16th stage Grenoble - Meribel - Col de la Loze 170 km - 16/09/2020 - Dan Martin (IRL - Israel Start-Up Nation) - photo POOL/BettiniPhoto©2020
Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) (Image credit: Bettini Image)

One of the many bizarre effects of the pandemic is that it’s been barely 11 weeks since Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and the rest of the Vuelta a España peloton crossed the race's final finish line in Madrid, and he’s already back in the thick of training and preparing for 2021. That being said, it’s also very likely that the 2020 season will linger long in the Irishman’s memory.

That’s because for Martin, results wise, 2020 was a striking year - and ultimately a strikingly good one. After an injury in the Dauphiné saw him dragging himself round the first half of the Tour de France, he subsequently hit the jackpot at the Vuelta.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.