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Tony Hans-Joachim Martin (born 23 April 1985) is a German former professional
road bicycle racer.[8] Martin was known as a
time trial specialist, and is a four-time world champion in the discipline – having won the title in
2011,
2012,
2013 and
2016 – which is joint-most with
Fabian Cancellara.[9] He also won a silver medal at the
2012 Summer Olympics in London, finishing runner-up to
Bradley Wiggins in the
event. Martin was also part of four world championship-winning team time trial squads, with
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step/Etixx–Quick-Step, in
2012,
2013 and
2016, and with Germany in the mixed relay time-trial in
2021.[8]
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.[11]
Following the announcement that HTC–Highroad would fold at the end of 2011, Martin signed with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step for the 2012 season.[39]
2012
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.[40] In April, Martin lost consciousness after colliding with a car during training[41] 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.[42][43]
At the
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.[44] 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
Olympic Games three weeks later.[45] Martin was deemed fit enough to compete, and he claimed silver at the Olympics behind Wiggins.[46]
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-kilometre (21.6-mile)
individual time trial, which he won by over a minute from the next closest competitor, team-mate
Michał Kwiatkowski. In the overall classification, he bested Kwiatkowski and
Lieuwe Westra of
Vacansoleil–DCM.[51] 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.[52] He recovered enough to win stage 11, an individual time trial.[53] With an average speed of 54.271 kilometres per hour (33.722 miles per hour), Martin rode the third fastest Tour de France individual time trial stage at that time.[54]
In the sixth stage of
Vuelta a España, Martin managed a 175-kilometre (109-mile) solo breakaway, averaging 27.7 mph (44.6 km/h), which was only caught in the final metres of the stage.[55][56] Martin then went on to help his team Omega Pharma–Quick-Step to narrowly beat
Orica–GreenEDGE in the
team time trial at the
UCI Road World Championships. He then emerged victorious once more in the individual time trial, beating second placed
Bradley Wiggins by 46 seconds, who was a further two seconds ahead of four-time winner
Fabian Cancellara.[57]
In the off season, Martin had surgery in Hamburg to resolve the scaphoid non-union resulting from his 2012 Tour de France stage 1 crash.[58] The Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team said he would wear a special cast for six weeks which would allow him to resume training before the cast was removed.
2014
On 1 June, he claimed his third consecutive
Tour of Belgium and set a new record in doing so,[59] surpassing 9 other riders who had managed to win the race two times. Martin then won the two time trials of the
Tour de Suisse, finishing fourth overall after limiting his losses in the mountains.[60] On 13 July, Martin won his first mass start road stage of the
Tour de France. He was in a breakaway for 155 kilometres (96 miles), the final 60 kilometres (37 miles) in a solo effort to bring back memories of his Vuelta effort in 2013.[61] 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 a margin of 1 minute 39 seconds over his nearest rival.[62] He went on to take another Grand Tour stage win at the
Vuelta a España, clinching the individual time trial on stage 10.[63] However he missed out on victory in the time trials at the
UCI Road World Championships, taking the bronze medal alongside his
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step teammates in the
team event and the silver medal in the
individual event, trailing Bradley Wiggins by 26 seconds.[64]
At the
Tour de France, Martin finished second behind
Rohan Dennis (
BMC Racing Team) in the opening time trial in
Utrecht.[68] Martin looked set to take the yellow jersey on Stage 2 when Dennis was dropped when the peloton split in crosswinds, but Fabian Cancellara outsprinted Martin's teammate
Mark Cavendish to take third on the stage, and jump ahead of Martin into first place due to time bonuses. On Stage 3, Cancellara was involved in a large accident and lost time, but Martin again missed out on taking the yellow jersey, as
Chris Froome (
Team Sky) came home second at the finish on the
Mur de Huy, and took the lead by one second over Martin due to the time bonus.[69] On 7 July, Martin won Stage 4 after a short escape 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) before the finish, taking the
yellow jersey for the first time in his career. He was riding on a bike borrowed from teammate
Matteo Trentin, having had mechanical problems earlier in the race, which featured 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) of cobbles.[70] On Stage 6, Martin crashed in the final kilometre on an uphill section while he was still in yellow and had to abandon the Tour because of a broken collarbone.[71]
One month later, Martin returned to racing; although he fell short in the individual time trial in stage 4, he gained time over his main competitors and eventually won the overall of the
Tour du Poitou-Charentes,[72] his first stage race win of the season. However he missed out on a World Championship gold for the second year running;
Etixx–Quick-Step finished second in the
team time trial, 11 seconds behind the BMC Racing Team,[73] and he struggled to seventh place in the
individual event – his worst performance in the event since
2008, when he also finished seventh.[74]
After Martin failed to record any top-ten finishes during the 2020 season, which was affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic, he won the German National Time Trial Championships for its ninth consecutive edition in 2021,[93] as the 2020 running was not held. At the
Tour de France, Martin was involved in an incident with around 45 kilometres (28 miles) remaining on the opening stage; leading the peloton, Martin impacted a cardboard sign that was being held by a spectator at the side of the road, and was one of many riders to fall to the ground.[94] Martin later abandoned the race after a further crash on the eleventh stage, which resulted in him ending up in a ditch.[95][96] The spectator that caused the stage 1 crash was later fined €1200 for her actions, in court in
Brest.[97] In September, Martin announced that he would retire following the
UCI Road World Championships, as an after effect of his Tour de France crashes and additional safety concerns.[98][99] In his final race, he helped the German team win the
mixed team relay,[100] 13 seconds ahead of the Dutch team.[101]
Personal life
Martin is the father of two daughters.[102] In 2022, Martin auctioned off his Olympic silver medal to raise money for children during the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. The winning bidder of the medal was a German supplements company, FitLine, who returned the medal to Martin.[103]
German Male Cyclist of the Year (
German: Radsportler des Jahres für Männer): 2009, 2011, 2016
Thüringia Sportsperson of the Year (
German: Thüringer Sportler des Jahres): 2012
Notes
^From 2012 to 2016, Martin was part of the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step/Etixx–Quick-Step team that contested the race. In 2017 and 2018, he contested the event with
Team Katusha–Alpecin.
^"Day-1 News". Paris–Nice.
Amaury Sport Organisation. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2022. Also of note are former KOM winners Antoine Duchesne (2016), Thomas de Gendt (2015), Amaël Moinard (2010) and Tony Martin (2009).
^"Martin reduces ambitions for season start". Cyclingnews.com. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2022. Martin wore the white jersey as best young rider at the 2009 Tour de France for 12 days, and finished second on the Mont Ventoux stage.
^Atkins, Ben (19 September 2011).
"Fabian Cancellara tips Tony Martin and Bert Grabsch for time trial gold". VeloNation. Retrieved 5 January 2012. Among his challengers, Cancellara himself has picked out two Germans as the main competition, according to Sporza; both of whom currently ride for HTC–Highroad, and both of whom will be transferring to Omega Pharma–Quick-Step in 2012.