“Everything is going in the right direction”
Tony Martin’s defeat at the hands of Bradley Wiggins on Sunday’s concluding stage of the Volta ao Algarve was something which the world time trial champion probably wasn’t expecting, given his dominance in races against the clock in 2011.
The German Omega Pharma Lotto rider lost out by hundredths of a second, with the two riders covering the 25.8 kilometre course in practically the same time.
The result stopped Martin from spraying champagne in a race he won overall last year, but he did succeed in moving up to second place in the general classification, 37 seconds off the winning time of Richie Porte (Sky Procycling).
He said afterwards that he believed the time trial win disappeared because of three losses of time during the flat-out test.
“I’m happy about my performance even if I made two little mistakes in two corners that compromised my race a bit,” he explained. “Moreover at about five kilometers from the finish a dog crossed the road while I was passing. I was scared and I stopped pedalling for few meters. But all these kind of things can happen in a TT, so I have nothing to complain about.”
Rather than fixating on the result, he’s gave credit to his rival and said that he is looking forward to the challenges ahead in 2012.
“Wiggins was really strong and he devoted the victory,” he said. “It was a nice duel with Bradley and I’m sure this year we will see other good fights as today. Concerning my condition, I can say that I improved a lot in this week of racing. Everything is going in the right directions, I’m really looking forward to the next races.”
The German rider moved from the HTC Highroad team to Omega Pharma Quick Step during the off season. The Belgian squad has had a phenominal start to the year in terms of victories and has built up a momentum that it wants to maintain into races such as Paris-Nice and beyond.
Martin won that race last year and is likely to target a repeat victory. It will conclude with an uphill time trial on Col d’Eze, giving him a chance to square up again against Wiggins if the Briton takes part.