The Irish rider turned professional with the team run by Jonathan Vaughters in 2008 and has become a hugely successful one-day and grand tour rider with wins in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy. He also won a stage in the 2013 Tour de France and finished in the top ten at last year’s Vuelta a España.
Martin will return to the Vuelta later this month and lead Cannondale-Garmin alongside Andrew Talansky, in his final Grand Tour for the team. The pair both rode the Tour de France in July with Martin picking up two second places during the race.
Cyclingnews understands that Cannondale-Garmin had offered Martin a contract extension but the Irishman decided on a new challenge. It is not yet clear where he will race next season but he has been linked with Trek Factory Racing and Etixx-QuickStep. Team Sky reportedly expressed an interest in Martin earlier in the year, though Cyclingnews understands that Martin will not sign for the team.
Both Martin and his agent were unavailable for comment.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
