Podium kisses for Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tony Martin is looking to bring his recently improving form into the Tour de France after a comprehensive win in the German national time trial championships.
Martin put over two minutes into second placed rider Nikias Arndt in the 45km test, with Stefan Schumacher third at nearly three minutes.
With the Tour de France starting with a 13.8km individual time trial in Utrecht in less than a week Martin is reaching towards his best form at just the right time.
“I am very happy to have won this race," Martin said. "This is the fifth title for me, so being able to wear this jersey at the Tour de France to represent this is also something special. As for the parcours, it was flat and simple. But to me it was really good because it was kind of a last test prior to the opening time trial of Le Tour in Utrecht.”
“After Dauphine I was a little tired, and didn’t train as I wanted to. I didn’t know exactly what I could expect from this race, so I have to say I am satisfied with the feeling I had on the bike today. In the race I really felt good. I started quite strong because to me it was also a question of simulating the TT effort of Utrecht. Then, when they told me I had a good margin on the second intermediate point, I continued to push until the end to see how good the feeling really was.
The course in Utrecht is certainly one that suits Martin’s characteristics but the former World time trial champion will face tough opposition from both GC contenders and time trial specialists such as Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).
“In light of Utrecht I think this was a really good race for both my legs and my morale. Also, when you are on your time trial bike for 45 kilometers, it always important to have a good setup. The setup of my Specialized Shiv was perfect. It will be the same as next week at Le Tour. Tomorrow I will analyze my effort again and see how I can further tune up my condition before next Saturday.
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Martin has skipped Sunday’s German national road race championships as he continues to focus on his preparation for the Tour de France.
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