Tony Martin (cyclist)

Tony Martin

Martin at the 2014 Tour of Belgium
Personal information
Full name	Tony Hans-Joachim Martin
Nickname	Panzerwagen[1]
Born	(1985-04-23) 23 April 1985 Cottbus, East Germany
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight	75 kg (165 lb; 11.8 st)[1]
Team information
Current team	Etixx-Quick Step
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Time-trialist[1]
Amateur team(s)
2004	Köstritzer
2005	Gerolsteiner (stagiaire)
2006–2007	Thüringer Energie Team
Professional team(s)
2008–2011	Team High Road
2012–	Omega Pharma-Quick Step
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 4 individual stages (2011, 2013, 2014) Vuelta a España 2 individual stages (2011, 2014) Stage races Eneco Tour (2010) Paris–Nice (2011) Tour of Beijing (2011, 2012) Tour of Belgium (2012, 2013, 2014) Volta ao Algarve (2011, 2013) One-day races and Classics World Time Trial Championships (2011, 2012, 2013) World Team Time Trial Championships (2012, 2013) National Time Trial Championships (2010, 2012–2014)
Medal record Competitor for  Germany Road bicycle racing Olympic Games Silver 2012 London Time trial World Championships Gold 2011 Copenhagen Time trial Gold 2012 Valkenburg Time trial Gold 2013 Florence Time trial Silver 2014 Ponferrada Time trial Bronze 2009 Mendrisio Time trial Bronze 2010 Melbourne Time trial Competitor for Omega Pharma-Quick Step Gold 2012 Valkenburg Team time trial Gold 2013 Florence Team time trial Bronze 2014 Ponferrada Team time trial
Infobox last updated on 21 September 2014

Tony Martin (born 23 April 1985) is a German professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTeam Etixx-Quick Step.^[2] Martin is known as a time trial specialist, and is a three-time world champion in the discipline, having won the title in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, finishing runner-up to Bradley Wiggins in the event.

Martin has also been a part of two world championship-winning team time trial squads with Omega Pharma-Quick Step, in 2012 and 2013. Martin has also won four Grand Tour individual time trial stages; three at the Tour de France in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and two at the Vuelta a España in 2011 and the 2014. He has also won several stage races, including the Eneco Tour (2010), Paris–Nice (2011) and the first two editions of the Tour of Beijing in 2011 and 2012.

Biography

Born in Cottbus, East Germany, Martin and the rest of his family escaped from East Germany shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communist Eastern Europe. Later he returned to the Eastern part of Germany to attend sport school in Erfurt.

Career

Early years

Martin turned professional in 2008, for Team High Road, and won 4 races in his first year, including three time trials.

2009

In 2009, Martin won time-trials in Critérium International and Bayern-Rundfahrt. He also featured strongly in week-long stage races, winning the mountain classifications at 2009 Paris-Nice and the 2009 Tour de Suisse, finishing second overall and winning a stage in the latter. Martin also made an impact at the Tour de France, wearing the Maillot blanc on stages 3–14, and winning the combativity award after finishing second on Stage 20 at the top of Mont Ventoux. He took the bronze medal in the time trial at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships at the end of the season.

2010

Martin enjoyed more success in time trials, winning the national championships as well as stages in the Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse. Martin finished second in both the prologue and ITT Stage 19 of the Tour de France, and again wore the Maillot blanc (stages 1–3). Following the Tour de France, Martin finished 1st overall in the 2010 Eneco Tour, as well as the time trial stage 7 and the young rider's classification. Martin again took the bronze medal at the time trial at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships.

2011

Martin in the rainbow jersey after winning the time trial at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships

2011 saw Martin claim overall victories in the 2011 Volta ao Algarve and 2011 Paris-Nice,^[3] having won time trials in both events. He also finished second overall in the 2011 Tour de Romandie, and won the time trial in the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné.

Martin won his first Grand Tour stage by taking victory in the ITT Stage 20 of the 2011 Tour de France.^[4] He also won the stage 10 time trial in the 2011 Vuelta a España.^[5]

In September, Martin won the gold medal in the time trial at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[6] He then won the opening time trial of the inaugural 2011 Tour of Beijing,^[7] and held the race lead for the rest of the event to claim overall victory.^[8][9]

Following the announcement that HTC-Highroad would fold at the end of 2011, Martin signed with Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the 2012 season.^[10]

2012

Martin at the 2012 Paris–Nice; wearing the rainbow jersey as the world champion in the discipline.

Martin began 2012 with second overall in the Volta ao Algarve, finishing second to Bradley Wiggins by less than a second in the final time trial. In April, Martin lost consciousness after colliding with a car during training^[11] and sustained injuries, wrecking his early season. Martin returned to action at the Tour of Belgium in May, winning the time trial on Stage 4 and taking the overall victory.

At the 2012 Tour de France, Martin's hopes of winning the prologue, were dashed by a mechanical problem that forced him to switch bikes on course. Martin then crashed the following day on Stage 1, suffering a broken wrist. After suffering more mechanical problems in the next time trial, Stage 9, he withdrew from the competition so that his wrist would have more time to heal before the time trial at the 2012 Summer Olympics three weeks later.^[12] Martin was deemed fit enough to compete, and he claimed silver at the Olympics behind Bradley Wiggins.^[13]

In September, Martin was part of the six man Omega Pharma-Quick Step team that won the inugural UCI World Team Time Trial Championships. Three days later, he successfully defended his individual world title, beating Taylor Phinney by five seconds and passing Alberto Contador on course.

In October, Martin went back to China to defend his title of Tour of Beijing champion, the last UCI World Tour race of the season. He accomplished his mission successfully, raking in the general classification when the dust settled.^[14] He placed well in all the stages, but the win is to be attributed in large part to a solo victory on stage 2, where he decimated the field, won well clear of his nearest opponents and took his first stage (that is not a time trial) win in three years.^[15]

2013

Martin (centre) with Bradley Wiggins (left) and Fabian Cancellara (right) on the podium after winning the 2013 World Time Trial Championships

In February, Martin won the general classification of the Volta ao Algarve. He earned the leader's jersey on the fourth and last stage, a 34.8 km (21.6 mi) race against the clock which he dominated. The second rider of the day, Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), finished with a deficit of a little more than a minute. In the overall classification, he bested Kwiatkowski and Lieuwe Westra of Vacansoleil-DCM.^[16] In the Tour de France he was involved in a crash on the 1st stage which left him with a concussion and a contusion on his left lung.^[17] He recovered enough to win stage 11, an individual time trial.^[18] With an average speed of 54.271 km/h (33.722 mph), Martin rode the third fastest ever ITT in the Tour.^[19]

In the sixth stage of Vuelta a España Tony managed a 175 km (109 mi) solo breakaway, averaging 27.7 mph for over 100 miles (quite possibly - by a large margin - the fastest ever 100 mile solo standard road bicycle ride in history) which was only caught in the final meters of the stage.^[20][21] This stage was ridden on a road bike, forming part of his preparation for the world championships. Martin would then go on to help his team Omega Pharma-Quick Step to narrowly beat Orica-GreenEDGE in world team time trial championships before emerging victorious once more in the individual time trial, beating second placed Wiggins by 46 seconds, who was a further two seconds ahead of four-time winner Cancellara.^[22]

2014

Martin in his unfamiliar German champions skinsuit at the 2015 Paris–Nice.

On the 1st of May he claimed his third consecutive Tour of Belgium and set a new record in doing so. 9 other riders managed to win the race two times before. Martin then won the two time trials of the Tour de Suisse, finishing fourth overall thanks to his ability to limit his losses in the mountains.^[23] On 13 July 2014 Martin won his first mass start road stage of the Tour de France. He was in a breakaway for 155 km, the final 60 km in a solo effort to bring back memories of his famous Vuelta effort in 2013.^[24] This time Martin won the stage and was able to begin his celebrations some distance before the line. He topped his Tour off by winning the 20th stage time trial by the margin of 1 minute 39 seconds over his nearest rival.^[25]

Palmarès

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Giro	128	—	—	—	—	—	—
Tour	–	35	137	44	WD	106	47
Vuelta	—	—	—	WD	WD	WD	WD

WD = Withdrew

Other major stage races

Time Trial Championships Timeline

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tony Martin.

• Tony Martin profile at Cycling Archives
• Tony Martin at Trap-Friis.dk. Archive copy at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 May 2011)

{{UCI Road World Champions – Men's time trial}}