CYCLING:In advance of his new Irish Times diaries throughout the Tour de France, which starts today, Dan Martin talks targets, injuries, tactics and what it means to compete for Ireland, writes SHANE STOKES, Cycling Correspondent

IRISH CLIMBER Dan Martin won a stage in last year’s Vuelta a España and ended the year ninth in the world.

Rewind the clock two decades and there were, for the last time, two Irish riders competing in the world’s biggest annual sporting event.

Seán Kelly was riding the last of his 14 Tours, netting placings of ninth and 10th on stages en route to a quiet finishing position of 43rd overall. A long career which had brought many victories plus a multi-year stint as world number one was gradually winding down, the sands of energy running out.

Kelly’s younger compatriot Stephen Roche was also there and was having a better Tour, winning the fog-shrouded 16th stage to La Bourboulle and placing ninth overall. Roche would retire the following season, ending his career emotionally on the Champs Elysees, while Kelly would persist until 1994 but never again ride the Tour.

It’s a reflection of the improving standard that today, 20 years on, two Irish riders will once again line out in the race.

Ag2r La Mondiale leader Nicolas Roche will compete in his fourth edition, while Dan Martin has got the nod from his Garmin-Sharp team, his selection coming after several near-misses in the past. He’s 25, he’s been clocking up big performances: it’s time.

Martin may not be as well known as Roche in this country, but that could all change over the next three weeks. A strong climber and a quick sprinter from a small group, his past results include a stage win and 13th overall in last year’s Vuelta a España, second in the prestigious Giro di Lombardia Classic, victory in the Tour of Poland and a collection of other strong results.

He ended last year as a fine ninth overall in the world tour rankings, and should grow stronger over the next three to four seasons. In short, he’s one of the top young talents in the sport.

What does that mean for this year’s Tour? His Garmin-Sharp team manager Jonathan Vaughters is clear on what he thinks could be possible. “I am excited and nervous for him. He is such a talented rider when he is riding well, but when he loses a bit of morale it’s different. But if Dan is firing at his full potential, he could achieve a lot,” he told The Irish Times.

“It would be great if he could win the mountain jersey. If he wins a stage instead, I will be equally happy. It is Dan’s first Tour de France and I just want him to focus on learning about the race and racing aggressively on the terrain that is good for him.”

Martin was due to ride the race in 2009 but a knee problem which flared up just before the race saw those plans dashed. Vaughters selected other riders in 2010 and again last year, and so Martin’s been hanging on a while to get the nod.

“Some people say it is long-awaited, but I’m really ready for it now,” he told The Irish Times. “I can go in there now confident, whereas I started the Vuelta last year not really knowing if I can race well over three weeks.

“That race did a lot for me. I went into the Vuelta treating each stage as a one-day race, racing as hard as I could, and it gave me a lot of confidence to know that could recover and still be okay the next day.”

Although this year’s Tour de France has three separate time trials totalling over 100 kilometres, and therefore doesn’t really suit his abilities in terms of the general classification, he’s long been pencilled in for the squad. Vaughters realises he’s a very strong climber and be it going for stages or helping the team’s leader Ryder Hesjedal, the 2012 Giro d’Italia winner, Martin could make a real impression on the race.

However, it all nearly didn’t happen.

On June 4th he crashed heavily on stage one of the Critérium du Dauphiné, damaging his shoulder, hitting his head and splitting his helmet in two. He limped on to the end of the race, feeling symptoms of whiplash and being unable to get out of the saddle on climbs due to pain, then returned to his base in Girona to recover.

Martin’s injuries faded over time, although he told this newspaper last week he still couldn’t put his car in reverse due to his shoulder issues. He passed over the chance to return to Ireland and compete in the national road race championships last Sunday, with that goal being sacrificed for the Tour.

“Because of the crash I wasn’t able to train hard the week after the Dauphiné,” he explained. “It was hard to miss the nationals and to see the jersey going to someone else, but in doing so I could stay at home in Girona, get used to the heat before the Tour and also do a lot of hard training. Let’s just say I’m a lot more confident now than I was a week ago.

“My first goal is to stay out of trouble in the first week. A lot of crashes happen then, all because of nervousness and people trying to be at the front. Hopefully I can avoid that stress. Even if I lose a couple of minutes on the flat stages in the first week, I am not going to be too worried about it. The main aim will be to arrive at the mountain stages without falling off, to put it bluntly, and to get there as fresh as possible.”

Martin believes that relaxed approach could save him energy and enable him to chase his primary target of a stage win. If that goes well, he could also be in the fight for the King of the Mountains jersey, one of the Tour’s most prestigious awards.

“It is something we’ll look at after a few days. If I can be up there on stages, it should put me in the picture. I have definitely thought about it, especially with the general classification being so tough with the time trials . . . that disadvantages the climbers.

“I’m feeling good – I am lighter than I have been for two years. Also, looking at the bright side of the crash, it has made me go into the race a lot fresher, really well rested.”

First cousin of Nicolas Roche – his mother is Stephen Roche’s sister – Martin was born in Birmingham, but declared for Ireland in 2005. He’s raced for the country ever since. “I have always felt Irish. We used to spend our summer holidays in Ireland,” he said. “I came over here at least once a year and also raced here, winning the Gorey three-day plus a stage of the Junior Tour.

“I never felt British, never felt comfortable in that situation. The Irish federation was always asking me to be Irish, and being wanted is what twisted my arm. That plus the family feel, the supporters and how they received me.

“I had a really tough year in 2005, nobody cared, but people in Ireland still did. People forget that it’s important to be supported in tough times, not just when you are successful.”

Those who have backed him along the way will now see him make his debut in the world’s biggest race. He’ll ride as well as possible over the next three weeks, both for himself and also for them. “Obviously it is exciting to go to my first Tour,” he said. “I am just trying to treat it as another bike race, as I always do. I don’t want to psyche myself out before I get to the start line. That said, my team-mates are all trying to prepare me for the monster that is the Tour de France.”

Martin’s exclusive Tour diary will begin in Monday’s Irish Times.