World time trial champion making faster than expected recovery and will ride traditonal German May Day race
Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) is set to return to racing at the Rund um den Finanzplatz-Eschborn-Frankfurt on May 1st, less than three weeks after he was hit by a car while out training close to his home in Switzerland, his team has announced. The World time trial champion sustained serious facial injuries in the accident, which happened just three kilometres from his house, but is recovering sufficiently to be able to ride the traditional German May Day race.
“I’m thrilled I can get back to the races,” he said. “These last two weeks I’ve been concentrated exclusively on my recovery. In the last few days I’ve even managed to do some more intense training sessions.
“The pain due to the fractures and the fall are diminishing day by day and I’m feeling better,” he explained. “However, I still have to be careful and try to take as few risks as possible. Overall my return to the races will be useful for me to get my racing groove back and understand how my body will respond in competition. I really wanted my comeback to be in Frankfurt, in my country, and this is what I’ve been working towards. On a mental level it was important to have an objective like this one.”
Although he will have returned to fitness, Martin is unlikely to feature in the result of the race, which traditionally favours sprinters, but will be his first step towards the next phase of the German, who celebrated his 26th birthday this week.
“We’re very happy that Tony can already return to the peloton with us,” said Omega Pharma-Quick Step directeur sportif Jan Schaffrath. “Tony is a hard nut and he’s proved so yet again.
“In the race he will be free to move as he sees fit, without taking any risks,” he explained. “He won’t have any special tasks. After the race we’ll see how he’s feeling. Concerning the race, the team can count on fast men like [Gerard] Ciolek, [Gert] Steegmans and [Guillaume] Van Keirsbulck. A sprint finish is the most obvious outcome in this race, but if necessary, we will also try to get into the breaks with some of our athletes.”
The race, which was previously known as the Rund um den Henninger Turm - named after the tower in the centre of Frankfurt, owned by the sponsoring brewery of the same name - has often been one for the sprinters, but can just as easily be taken by a determined breakaway if the sprinters’ teams don’t chase hard enough. Ciolek finished third in the 2006 edition, his best placing in the race to date.
The 2011 race was won by German sprinter John Degenkolb (then HTC-Highroad, now Argos-Shimano).
Omega Pharma-Quick Step team for the Rund um den Finanzplatz-Eschborn-Frankfurt
Gerald Ciolek, Bert Grabsch, Tony Martin, Jérôme Pineau, Gert Steegmans, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Stijn Vandenbergh