Twice second to Alejandro Valverde at La Flčche Wallonne, and with five top-10 places in total, Dan Martin is one of the few riders with a legitimate chance of beating the Spaniard on the slopes of the Mur de Huy this Wednesday. The 31-year-old Irishman has never won the race, and although Valverde is hunting a jaw-dropping sixth win, Martin believes that simply focusing on his Movistar rival could be an error. `Heīs human,` Martin told Cyclingnews when asked if Valverde could be beaten on the Mur de Huy. `Itīs about finding the way to beat him. I know that Iīve made mistakes in the past, and Iīve not saved energy at the start of some races, but I`ve made a big improvement there. The danger is that I concentrate too much on him and someone else slips away. Although heīs the outstanding favourite, I also need to watch other riders and see how the race opens up. Iīm expecting it to be a much more aggressive race and it could be a much smaller group at the bottom.`ADVERTISEMENT In 2017 Martin found himself blocked in the bunch as the peloton began the final 300m up the long-busting finishing slopes of the Mur de Huy. By the time he had picked his way through the field to take second - a superb ride in itself - Valverde had raised his arms in victory. `I was well-placed with 1km to go in 2017 but it was raced differently last year,` he said. `The peloton raced it really hard at the start of the climb and that caught me by surprise. Normally thereīs a pause before the steep section but it went hard, and then there was a slow down. Then I was blocked. I do have a skill in judging it, but to win the race I havenīt got it quite right yet. Itīs a race I still really enjoy. `This year I think it could be a very different race. There are a lot of strong riders who are in very good condition and they wonīt wait for the Mur. I think itīs going to be open and aggressive. It could still come down to the Mur again, but itīs going to be a lot harder. People are resigned to ...
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