NEW CHAPTERS

Having just written a book about his career, Dan Martin tells Tom Davidson how racing has changed since the sweet spot of his heyday

- Tom Davidson

The fuzz of music blaring from speakers, the roar of the crowd, the frustrated cry of a tired toddler. Since 2015, this has been the soundtrack to Dan Martin's Julys. This year was no different. Except rather than riding through the mayhem of another Tour de France, the 36-year-old was at Disneyland Paris, on holiday with his wife Jess and their twin daughters. "We were taking advantage," Martin tells CW, "because next year we won't be able to take the kids out of school."

The day we meet, the Irishman has been up since lam, awoken by one of his four-year-olds before his early morning flight from Andorra to London. Retired life, it turns out, isn't as relaxing as he had expected. He has spent most of the morning signing copies of his new book in the windowless basement of a publishing house, and yet, he's surprisingly chipper.

"Time's just flown," he says, reflecting on the past year. "I've enjoyed every minute of it, just being able to do different projects. Diversify is the word that I used when I stopped, just diversifying my life a little bit, and spending more time with Jess because obviously she's only ever really known me as a cyclist."

Remembering Liège

Quite the cyclist he was, too. Throughout his 14-year professional career, Martin clocked up a tally of 22 victories on the road. He was dogged on the uphills, brave on the downhills and thrived when the racing entered the high mountains.

His crowning victory came almost a decade ago, when he kicked away from Spaniard Joaquim Rodríguez to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2013. It's a race Martin holds dear to his heart, and one that came to define his career.

"It's one of the biggest races in the sport," he says. "At the end of the day, there are 21 Tour de France stages a year, and there's only one Liège.

"That race has almost set the tone of my season each year."