Dan looks to draw inspiration from newborn twins
Team Emirates look to turn a new leaf in seven-stage UAE Tour
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UAE Team Emirates’ cyclist Dan Martin can’t wait to return home after winding up the season with some promotional events in the UAE capital.
More than the much-needed break, Martin is longing to be with his newborn twins and his wife, former Olympic-longdistance runner Jess Martin.
“I’m looking forward to a little bit of a holiday as I have got newborn twin daughters, Daisy and Ella, less than six weeks old. I want to be with them and spend some quality time,” said Martin after a clinic with the kids from Al Yasmina Academy.
“Being with the twins will definitely be an inspiration and hopefully I can come out strongly when the season gets underway in January,” said 32-year-old Birminghamborn Irishman, who was pretty pleased with the way his season ended on the UCI World Tour, including a stage win at the Tour de France.
“We didn’t start off well into the season but Tour de France was a big one. We managed to show the jersey and show UAE and I would say we did it justice. We had a lot of time showing the jersey in a good light. We made a lot of people here proud and that is most important,” said Martin, who was confident of the team taking giant strides next season having invested a lot in upgrading their firepower.
First UAE tour
“I have not taken part in the UAE Tour and next year will be my first. We are aware it is a very important one for all of us and for me. It is a special one for the people here and it will be great to have the UAE crowd behind you. Lots of fans were happy to see us do well in Tour de France,” said Martin, who is aware that doing well on the UAE Tour — comprising of seven stages — will be top priority.
Norwegian Alexander Kristoff rated his season as ‘average’ but felt the saving grace for him was winning the final stage at the Tour de France.
“The performance in the Belgium Classic was more disappointing. Thereafter, I improved by the time for the Tour de France with Dan Martin winning early and then I won the last stage. I would say that the win in Paris saved my season as it was a dream for me in many years to win a stage and it finally happened,” said Kristoff.
UAE’s homebred cyclist Yousuf Mirza felt the highlight of his season was winning gold at the Asian Championship in Myanmar last February. “I was well prepared for the Asian Championship,” said Mirza.