Slipstream–Chipotle (2008–15) Early years Martin turned professional in 2008 with . In 2008, he won the
Route du Sud and the
Irish National Road Race Championships. In 2009, Martin reached a
UCI World Rankings of thirty-fifth (137 points), and rode his first
Grand Tour, the
2009 Vuelta a España. In 2010, he won his first
UCI ProTour stage race, the
Tour of Poland. Martin won Stage 6 and finished second overall, behind Slovak
Peter Sagan of , in the
Tour of Poland. With a second place, behind 's
Oliver Zaugg of Switzerland, in the season-ending
Giro di Lombardia, Martin finished in ninth in the
UCI World Rankings (286 points); Ireland placed thirteenth in the national rankings (319 points).
2012 Whilst achieving no wins in 2012, Martin placed sixteenth in
UCI World Ranking (196 points); Ireland finished sixteenth in the national rankings (259 points).
2013 In March 2013, Martin won Stage 4 of the
Volta a Catalunya; his fourth World Tour victory. Martin gained the leader's jersey the following day, and won overall classification four days later. In April, Martin finished fourth in
La Flèche Wallonne; the following weekend, he won
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, beating 's
Joaquim Rodríguez of Spain. It was during the final stages of this race that a spectator in a panda suit chased the riders, leading to a long-lasting connection between Martin and the panda. Martin's form continued at the
Tour de Suisse where he placed eighth overall. Martin, along with his teammates
Andrew Talansky and
Ryder Hesjedal, rode the
Tour de France as co-captains. On
Stage 8, finishing at
Ax 3 Domaines, Talansky and Martin finished together, twelfth and thirtieth, respectively, to sit twelfth and thirteenth overall. The following day, Martin won
Stage 9 in
Bagnères-de-Bigorre, after escaping from the lead group with Dane
Jakob Fuglsang () on the final climb. He out sprinted Fuglsang in the final kilometre to win the stage. Martin moved up to eighth overall in the process. However, Martin fell ill in the final week, and following the final three mountain stages, slipped to thirty-third overall. Martin completed the 2013 season with a fourth-place finish in the
Giro di Lombardia, and a second-place finish in the
Tour of Beijing. Martin finished sixth in the
UCI World Rankings (432 points); Ireland placed tenth in the national rankings (568 points).
2014 Martin finished second in
La Flèche Wallonne, behind Spaniard
Alejandro Valverde (). Martin looked well positioned in
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, sitting in second place, but in the final he crashed; Australian
Simon Gerrans () was victorious. Martin's primary focus was the
Giro d'Italia, which started in
Belfast. However, in the opening team time trial, Martin crashed, breaking his collarbone; he subsequently abandoned the race. He skipped the
Tour de France to focus on the
Vuelta a España; he placed seventh overall. In October, Martin won the
Giro di Lombardia; he attacked in the final kilometre, and soloed to the finish, winning by one second. Martin won Stage 4, and placed second overall, behind 's
Philippe Gilbert of Belgium, at the season-ending
Tour of Beijing. Martin finished ninth in the
UCI World Rankings (316 points); Ireland placed fourteenth in the national rankings (357 points).
2015 In March, Martin came in tenth position at the
Volta a Catalunya. He participated in
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, but was caught in a pile-up and had to abandon all hopes of winning the race. He participated in the
Tour de Romandie (finishing 104th) where he complained of chest pain, but only after the race was it found that he had two broken ribs, a result of his crash at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. On Stage 11 of the
Tour de France, Martin rode across a three-minute gap on the
Col d'Aspin to the breakaway, and then led over the top of the climb. However
Rafał Majka, part of the breakaway, attacked the group on the
Col du Tourmalet; Martin went over the climb in third place, and he rode with
Emanuel Buchmann for a while before going solo to catch Majka. He passed
Serge Pauwels but he could not quite get to Majka, but he did win the Combativity award for the stage.
Etixx–Quick-Step (2016–17) 2016 Martin joined on a two-year contract from 2016, with a focus on strengthening the team's squad for the
Ardennes classics and competing as a contender in stage races. Martin enjoyed success in his first race with his new team, winning the second stage of the
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, his first win for over a year. He took another win against a strong field in the
Volta a Catalunya, going on to finish third overall. He went on to Belgium to race in the Ardennes classics, where his best result was a third place at
La Flèche Wallonne.
2017 Martin's first significant result of the season was a stage win at the
Volta ao Algarve. In April, he placed second to
Alejandro Valverde in both
La Flèche Wallonne and
Liège–Bastogne–Liège. In June, his late attack in the final stage lifted him to the podium, in third place, of the
Critérium du Dauphiné, overtaking
Chris Froome by a single second. In the
Tour de France, Martin was involved in a crash with
Richie Porte in stage 9. In an interview at the end of the stage he said; Despite back pain, finding it hard to walk and not being able to get out of his saddle at times, he went on to finish the race sixth in the general classification, only learning afterwards that he had fractured two vertebrae in the crash. The injury forced him to miss the
Clásica de San Sebastián.
UAE Team Emirates (2018–19) 2018 In August 2017, Martin announced that he was joining , on a two-year contract, for the 2018 season. He made his debut for at the
Volta ao Algarve. Martin placed fourth on stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve, by losing out on a sprint finish to
Michał Kwiatkowski; he went on to finish 14th overall. At
Paris–Nice, Martin abandoned the race due to bad weather conditions and illness on Stage 7, Martin had lost time on the previous stage due to a mechanical problem with his bike. At the
Volta a Catalunya Martin fell behind on Stage 4 to
La Molina, finishing 1 minute 29 seconds behind stage winner
Alejandro Valverde, in 19th place. He took his first win of the season with a stage win at the
Critérium du Dauphiné. On 12 July Martin won his second
Tour de France stage, winning
stage 6 at
Mûr-de-Bretagne. He was named the most combative rider of the Tour de France.
Israel Start-Up Nation (2020–21) In 2020 Martin joined on a two-year contract. In 2020 Martin took 5th place in
La Flèche Wallonne, and in the
Vuelta a España he finished third in each of the first two stages, followed by a win on
stage three before eventually finishing fourth in the General classification. On 26 May 2021, he won
stage 17 of the
2021 Giro d'Italia, thus claiming a stage win in all three of
grand tours. He eventually finished the Giro in 10th Overall. In September 2021, Martin announced that he would retire from competition at the end of the season. ==Personal==