Three time world champion against the clock Tony Martin (Germany) didn't have the answers to his ride as he missed the podium completely(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A battered Tony Martin crosses the finish line.(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Cava for Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Etixx Quickstep help Tony Martin to the line(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen, Julien Alaphilippe and Tony Martin at the Grand Prix Quebec.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tony Martin has named reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome as his favourite for this summer’s Olympic Games time trial. Martin and Froome were on the podium in London four years ago with the German taking silver ahead of Froome’s bronze. Bradley Wiggins won the event.
Back then the course was somewhat flat in comparison to the course in Rio, with only a few undulations to deal with. In Rio de Janeiro later this year, the riders will face a much more challenging prospect with two loops of a hilly course. Martin is no slouch on a climb however, perhaps more so after his disappointment in the time trial at the World Championships last year, he knows that he is up against it and taking home a medal will be a victory within itself.
“I think that the podium will be different from the Olympics to the Worlds. My big favourite is Froome for the Olympics, Dumoulin and hopefully me,” Martin told the press at an Etixx-QuickStep training camp in Calpe, Spain.
“It’s hard to say because it isn’t really a classic time trial. It’s more for climbers. There are a few guys who can really go for the medals.” For Martin, it is the World Championships in Qatar this October, that provides him with his best opportunity of a title. A victory there would be his fourth, putting him equal with Fabian Cancellara for the number of time trial world titles. Cancellara is yet to decide if he will ride the time trial at the Worlds in his final season but he could be in competition with Martin for the title.
Martin believes that there is a big number of riders that could walk away with the title but he has some extra motivation after missing out so drastically in Richmond four months ago.
“First of all I want to show that I’m back in the Worlds after losing so hard last year. We’ve changed a lot and I really want to show that I’m back in business,” said Martin. “For the Worlds, there are guys like Dumoulin, Cancellara, Malori was strong last year, and me. I think it’s more open in the last years.”
Martin has been meticulous in his approach to his goals for the 2016 season, testing new equipment, positions and training programmes.
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Even during the short two-hour ride ahead of the afternoon with the media this Friday, he made a mid-ride switch to his time trial bike to try out a new position on his bike and he is determined to find the right fit before the season truly gets going. He had mooted the idea of using the time trial heavy Giro d’Italia as potential preparation but in the end will use the Tour de France as his final race before the Olympic Games.
Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
