News: Froome & Martin for Volta a Catalunya

On what has been described as an insanely hard course, Israel Startup nation have selected Chris Froome and Dan Martin in their squad for the climbers race, Volta a Catalunya

News: Froome & Martin for Volta a Catalunya

Israel Start-Up Nation will be taking its best climbers to the Volta a Catalunya. Donning the #BlueAndWhite colors of the Israeli team, Dan Martin, Michael Woods, and Chris Froome will be among the riders. They will be supported by Canadian climber, Alexander Cataford, South-African all-rounder, Daryl Impey, Swiss super domestique, Reto Hollenstein, and Israeli road race champion, Omer Goldstein.

Dan Martin

Three ISN-riders are coming from an altitude camp on Teide to the race’s start in the coastal, Catalan town of Calella. Daryl Impey, along with Froome and Cataford. Impey says: “This is the first time I have done an altitude block before the race, so I am keen to see the effects from that. Hopefully, we can capitalize on the successful camp on Tenerife.”

That ambition is shared by Froome. He says: “I will be using the race as an opportunity to push the legs further towards race fitness. I love racing on Spanish roads and I am looking forward to testing myself in the mountains to see how I’ve progressed.”

On paper, there doesn’t seem to be many opportunities for sprinters at all. The Volta features one ITT (stage 2), 3 stages for all-rounders with good climbing legs (stages 1, 5, and 6), and the traditional circuit race at Montjuïc Barcelona. The two mountain-top finishes (stages 3 and 4) will determine the GC.

“We have assembled a great squad”, said Impey, the Girona-based rider who feels like he will be racing on home roads. “We can be really ambitious with our climbers, and I hope that we can pull off a big result altogether.”

The Team
– Daryl Impey
– Omer Goldstein
– Chris Froome
– Reto Hollenstein
– Dan Martin
– Michael Woods
– Alexander Cataford