Tony Martin to take on the cobbles this year
Etixx-QuickStep's Tour de France stage winner set to test his mettle in the spring Classics
German Tony Martin is a time trial specialist who rides for the Omega Pharma – Quick-Step team. In 2013, he became only the second rider in history to win three consecutive world time trial titles, when he averaged 52.9 km/h around the 57.9 km course in Florence, Italy. He beat second-placed Bradley Wiggins by an incredible 46 seconds.
Among the many other highlights of his career include stage wins at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana, as well as victories at the Eneco Tour, the Volta ao Algarve, the Tour of Beijing and Paris-Nice. And if all those achievements weren’t enough, he also took silver in the time trial at the 2012 London Olympics.
Born in Cottbus in the old East Germany on 23rd April 1985, Tony escaped with his family to the west shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He only started cycling at the relatively late age of 14, but was soon returning to the Eastern part of the country to attend a high school specialising in sport in Erfurt. After nine years on the amateur circuit, he turned pro with Team HTC-High Road in 2008.
Now based in the Swiss town of Kreuzlingen, Tony (or ‘Der Panzerwagen’ as he is nicknamed) not only has the raw talent, but also the determination to recover from setbacks – in 2012, he won the time trial and the overall classification of the Tour of Belgium only months after being hit by a car while training.
