Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda. This is the name of the sixth Colombian cyclist who will have the opportunity to finish on the podium of the Italy spinthe eighth time that a rider from the country appears in the photo of the best three of the second stage race in the world.
Its beginnings
This time everything is different. Daniel Felipe left the British group and is now part of the German Bora, where he arrived as one of the pillars to fight general classifications, as he did in the Return to the Algarve from Portugal, when he finished second to the champion, Remco Evenepoel, after winning two stages. His story has not been easy.
Little Daniel Felipe, who was born in Soacha, Cundinamarca, On April 25, 1996, what I wanted was to be a cyclist.
He was a very good student, he always occupied the first places in the course, but he wanted to ride a bicycle, to be a champion.
The family’s financial resources were not the best and during breaks at school he sold sweets, because he had references from his parents, Guillermo Martínez and Blanca Isabel Poveda, who made a living as street vendors on the outskirts of the sector’s cloisters.
Hard life
“It touched me. She had to help me with my expenses, she had to sponsor me. I sold gum, peanuts, candy, soda and I did well. At home we had just enough, although sometimes something was missing, but not food, never those,” she recalled.
The boys he studied with, some of them were on bad paths. There were people who were selling drugs, but Daniel was always clear about what his parents told him, who never let him light up a cigarette. His brother Jeison was key in getting him into cycling. He was the one who lent him the monareta and that’s where it all started.
Soccer was his first love. He is a fan of Atlético Nacional, he was a forward, he warns that he was the terror of rival goalkeepers.
“I liked to score goals and I did them. I still watch games, I like it, I have a passion for football,” he said.
Life forced him to sacrifice himself. He worked as an assistant in a store in Soacha, he earned pesos and, at the same time, he had the option of watching Nacional games on television. He is 1.74 meters tall, weighs 63 kilos.
He confesses to being a “good tooth”, he eats well, although since he started cycling he has had to cut down on flour and sweets and has made the sacrifice of eating a balanced diet, with a strict diet.
He was always good at time trial efforts. He already has five medals in the National Road Championships: four gold (2019, 2022, 2022 and 2024) and one silver (2018). One of his most important results was the mountain title in the Southern Route in 2015, proof that won Alberto counter, his idol, and in which Nairo Quintana was second. Those were the times of the extinct Team Colombia.
Daniel Martínez, national time trial champion. Photo: Fedeciclismo Credit: CEET Photographer:
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Key to Egan
In 2021 he moved to the Ineos team and was the architect of Egan’s overall victory, when on stage 17 between Canazei and Sega di Ala Bernal he succumbed to fatigue that caused him to lose important seconds with Simon Yates, but thanks to his golden gregarious man who with his right fist invited him not to faint.
The Soachuno’s words made an impact on his compatriot, who reacted and managed to keep the pink leader’s shirt on one of the worst days of his career.
The Tour de France has seen him win, since in the 2020 edition he won the day between Châtel-Guyon and Pas de Peyrol from Le Puy Mary, of 191 km.
Martínez Poveda was born for the spor
t of cranks and pedals, to which he has given the best days of his life. His high school degree was different from that of his classmates.
He was not at the ceremony that day, as he was in Cartagena being crowned champion of the Vuelta del Futuro. Daniel Martínez gives his soul to each pedal stroke and does so so that Laura Melisa Valencia, his wife, and his childrenIsaac and Mayah, feel proud of him, as they will be this Sunday in Rome, when the visible head of the family climbs the Giro podium and takes a photo next to Tadej Pogacarthe great champion, and Geraint Thomas, his great rival and who will finish third, a podium that tastes like victory and that leads him to become one of the Colombian cyclists who has managed to finish in the top three of a ‘big’ race.
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