INTERVIEW | Dan Martin on how Visma can beat Pogacar: "The first week will be crucial"

At the start of the Tour de France there were massive crowds in Lille, and between the riders and fans are many events and special figures present - specially in a city so close to the border with Belgium and Great Britain. Daniel Martin, a former contender for the Tour's top positions, has shared with CyclingUpToDate his feelings regarding the Grand Boucle, how Team Visma | Lease a Bike can defeat Tadej Pogacar and more.

The Irishman is a rider with a lot of experience in the Tour - having raced it nine times, and a total of three times in the Top10 - and knows what the riders will be facing throughout the upcoming three weeks.

Answer: It's always, starting in the north of France like this, it's always special because obviously it's so accessible to so much of the European population, European cycling population, world cycling fans, right? Like Belgium, Holland, yeah, obviously we have a hundred guests from Velux, Holland here today, you know, it's just like it's the UK, northern France... Last year was a bit, it was always, it's in Italy, it's a beautiful start, it's amazing to see Florence, you always have these special team presentations when you don't start in France, it's always spectacular, but a start in France is always special.

There's something about it, it's really... The people, the fans, there's so many people here, and today it's just a number of people, it's, and then I'm sure the whole Lille design today, which is always as a rider you kind of try to block it out - You notice it, but it adds to the stress the number of people on the side of the road. But to be here, to be able to enjoy and soak up the atmosphere, it makes it special.

Answer. My first tour I didn't enjoy at all, I've often said that, because it was a complete shock, this, the enormity of it. When I came back in 2013, I was prepared mentally for that, and I developed a kind of coping mechanism with that, that was just to embrace it and enjoy it, and just realize - I think a lot of riders, they take part in the Tour de France and they get kind of consumed by the enormity and the circus that surrounds it and the amount of pressure, and they don't embrace it enough or enjoy it and they crumble under the pressure. And you often see riders who don't perform well, the Tour is a race they don't perform well in, because they feel the pressure, whereas, I think my advice would be to all of them - and that's how I used to take it - you're just so lucky to be a part of this event, to have all these people here watching you ride a bike, and of course there's stressful moments.

But you need to just, it doesn't last forever, you just need to enjoy the atmosphere, and yeah, enjoy the attention, and it's just an incredible, it's the biggest event in the world. It felt really strange arriving here on Thursday, having obviously no preparation at all, I'd even forgotten the Tour was taking place almost, and I kind of got here, and you see all the yellow signs, it's like wow actually we're back in France for July, and the Tour, and just the buzz, the anticipation this morning, that underlying undercurrent of stress, that it's just like, everybody's nervous, with the wind today...

And then I get to do it every day, I'm at the finish line every day, and you always have this incredible build of anticipation before the riders get there that's there's nothing like it. It's something I really get to, I do get to enjoy now, and it's just amazing to be a part of it again.

Answer: I think the first week will be crucial, you know, I think it's very, it's a very tricky, not just because of him possibly losing time or losing energy, if he has to position himself too much - I think he's got a stronger team than he's ever had, but I do think it can be difficult to, obviously the risk of losing time or mechanical issues or whatever, or injury... You know, it's been quite a while, I can't remember the last time, probably 2018 was the last time we did this kind of start when it was all in northern France. The first ten days, and there's no mountains, physiologically that's different as well, because the guys are going to hit the first mountains in the Pyrenees, obviously we got the stage ten, mountainous, but it's not real cold, not real mountains.

They haven't done, they're not going to have ridden a real climb for two weeks, because they've been obviously tapering before this event. And it gets hot down there as well, it's just a different, that adaptation is really tricky, and also they won't have, with the day after the rest day in Toulouse, they also don't have the chance to go ride climbs on the rest day. So the first mountain they do, is literally going to be a shock to the system, and that's also difficult, that could be a player factor, nobody's really talking about it as well.

It's a different challenge, obviously he's the best in the world at all types of cycling at the moment, then we've got potentially Vingegaard, who's the best pure climber almost... It's going to be, I think, obviously it's a cliché, it's can all be lost on any day, and today's going to be crucial to be in front, but obviously a lot of road planning, a lot of wind, it's going to be difficult.