Dan Martin (IRL) confirms he will be on start line for Giro d’Italia in Belfast, May 2014

In an interview with Cyclingnews August 11, Ireland's Dan Martin has confirmed he will lead his team, Garmin-Sharp, in the Giro d'Italia in 2014 which is starting in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
This is a major boost to the Grande Partenza (Big Start) which will see riders tackle two stages starting and finishing in Belfast, followed by a stage from Armagh to Dublin May 10-12 next year. Martin is currently ranked 10th in the world and this year has had massive successwinning the one day classic Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April and also winning his first stage in the Tour de France in July.
"I'll be there for the GC" he told Cyclingnews from his base in Girona, Spain. "Cycling in Ireland is getting bigger and bigger. Especially with what happened at the Tour...so it's going to be an interesting May."
Darach McQuaid, Shadetree Sports commented "For us as local organisers of this event, we could not be happier to hear the Dan is confirmed as his team leader and will be on the start line next May. Naturally, we would also like to see Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan on the start list, but we will need to wait for confirmation at a later date. The sport is booming in Ireland and the Giro d'Italia starting here next year, with real Irish contenders as part of the peloton, will create a massive buzz."
In September, Dan will go to the Vuelta d'Espana as team leader followed by the UCI World Road Race Championships in Tuscany, on a course that suits his climbing talents.Then he will travel to Il Lombardia in Italy on October 6th, (2nd in 2011 edition) The detailed route for the 2014 Giro d'Italia will be announced in Milan the day after, on October 7th.