Cycling
Bike sensation Dani Martínez is Colombia's complete package
The 28-year-old finished second at the 2024 Giro d’Italia in his first season for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe but isn’t finished yet.
Colombia’s newest road cycling star, Dani Martínez, was following in the tyre tracks of the country’s modern trailblazers Rigoberto Urán and Nairo Quintana in reaching the sport’s pinnacle when a freak training accident saw him break both of his hands in 2019.
“I was living in a moment where I wanted to do very well in the Tour de France. But I fell, fractured both hands and could not go to the Tour.”
Rather than see it as a low point in a burgeoning professional career, the Soacha-born Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider believes the setback was in fact a positive. “I had to rethink everything and go back and rediscover that confidence in myself. That was quite challenging because for two months, I couldn't do anything. That's when I started working a little more on my mentality.”
Dani Martínez out in full swing
© Tim de Waele/Getty Images
He says that since focusing on his ‘internal side’ the “improvements have been too many”. His results would agree – a mountain-top breakaway stage win at the 2020 Tour de France and general classification victories at the Critérium du Dauphiné (2020), Tour of the Basque Country (2022) and Volta ao Algarve (2023), while in his first season for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe in 2024, he finished second at the Giro d’Italia, and was a key domestique in Primož Roglič’s La Vuelta win.
With the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France on his agenda and his confidence growing daily, expect Martínez to add to his accomplishments in 2025.
01
He showed his early potential on a beaten-up old bike
Growing up in the city of Soacha on the outskirts of Bogota, Martínez’s first bike was old, heavy, too big for him and didn’t have gears. “Whether it was up, down, or flat, I had to go with what I had,” he says. But his beaten-up old bike didn’t stop him from falling in love with cycling.
Dani Martínez racing for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
© Tim de Waele/Getty Images
Having that feeling of being in the open air, being on a road, going up and down mountains gave me a lot of excitement
“Going out on the road [offered freedom]. I was always in school, and locked up, playing in closed places. Having that feeling of being in the open air, being on a road, going up and down mountains gave me a lot of excitement.”
From a young age, he would see his exploits as challenges too, whether it was riding up a mountain and not getting off or aiming to beat other rides on the road: “A lot of people that I passed by were like: ‘This kid, practically, without gears, is passing us by!’.”
02
His brother acted as his inspiration
Cycling ability runs in the Martínez family genes. His older brother, Jeison, was a promising rider and was involved in national competitions, acting as an inspiration for Martínez, who is four years his junior.
Dani Martínez in race mode
© Tim de Waele/Getty Images
“At that time, the only Colombian who was in the WorldTour was Rigoberto Urán, and then Nairo [Quintana] came along. Very good cyclists appeared and opened the door for us, but I knew more or less the path that my brother had given me – to be part of a national team, you have to win a National Championship and always be there in the races since 15 or 16 years of age.
“I got more involved in the competitions because I saw my brother doing some. In Colombia, there was a race which is very important for those who are 15 and 16 years old called the Vuelta al Futuro. My brother did it and finished around 80th-90th.. I remember I told my brother: ‘One day, when I'm 15 or 16 years old, I'll go and win it.’ Indeed, when I was 15 years old, I finished second, and the second time around, I won it. So, that's when I got more involved in the competitive system.”
03
Last year’s Giro d’Italia was the pinnacle of his career – so far
After rising through the ranks with the Colombian national team and an Italian Continental-level team, Martínez joined Team EF Education First - Drapac p/b Cannondale and the WorldTour alongside compatriot Urán for the 2018 season. He recorded a stage win at the Tour de France and the general classification at Criterium du Dauphiné (2020) before moving to INEOS Grenadiers, where he spent three years gaining more experience that would make him an invaluable signing for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe for the 2024 season.
Dani Martínez pre-race with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
© Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
“My objectives were, and are, the big vueltas [Tour de France, Vuelta a España, Giro d’Italia]. I wanted to do well in some big races, getting on the podium. I had never made it – sometimes I had falls or illnesses, other times I did not reach the competitions so well,” he says.
But things would align for Martínez in his first Grand Tour for his new team, where he also took on the role of team leader. “In the last edition of the Giro, everything went well, and we got second place, which is something gratifying for me because it was one of the races I used to watch when I started cycling. Finishing in second position is quite exciting.”
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04
He hopes to inspire the next generation of Colombian cyclists
The 28-year-old has many years of competing ahead of him, but he’s already looking beyond his career and his legacy. “Without a doubt, it would be to let more young people and children be able to take and follow this dream – to be able to explore the world on a bike.
Dani Martínez fighting for position
© Tim de Waele/Getty Images
“One dream I have is to open a cycling school in Colombia and to provide all the knowledge I have about cycling. It sure would be nice to bring one, two, three or four titles of the Tour de France there in the future.
“I hope I can provide a nice image of the sport, a little spark of hope to the kids who are in the lower leagues. One day, I want them to turn professional and say: ‘Oh, I wanted to be like Daniel and today I went past him!’ It would be spectacular.”
