PRO DIARIES

DAN MARTIN

ISRAEL START-UP NATION

If you had said to me when I wrote last month’s column that the next time I write I would still be confined to my basement home trainer set up, it would have been really quite demoralising. I think I can speak for everybody in saying that optimism has kept us going through this period. That take it day by day attitude I spoke about before, not thinking too far ahead and having a daily routine to focus on, especially with 19-month-old twin girls, has kept me mentally stimulated and time has gone by reasonably quickly.

It has been interesting to see how different pros have dealt with the situation. Some spending countless hours on Zwift or undertaking crazy endurance challenges, others doing next to nothing.

I have been somewhat stuck between the two. When I joined Israel Start-Up Nation, my training over the past years was analysed in depth and gaps were spotted. Both living at altitude, riding in the mountains and team-guided training orientated towards endurance had blunted the qualities that led me to win races like Liège and Lombardia - the explosive snap that belied my diminutive figure and caught many by surprise. We worked hard over the winter and judging by the first races of the year that ability to go seriously into the red zone and continue was coming back, but there