Second and eight championships respectively; Lars Teutenberg a surprise bronze medallist
Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Judith Arndt (Orica-GreenEdge) both added the German time trial championships to their World titles in Zwenkau, near Leipzig, in eastern Germany. Despite not originally intending to ride, Martin completed the 40.68km course in a time of 47’21” to beat defending champion, Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate Bert Grabsch by 1’25”, and take back the title he last won in 2010. Arndt successfully defended her own title for the second time - taking her eighth German time trial title in all - finishing the 33.68km course in 44’28”, beating Trixi Worrack (Specialized-lululemon) by 45 seconds.
“I'm really happy about my race,” said Martin after his victory. “Today I was looking for a good result, and a good performance, and I got both. It's important even for the confidence prior to the Tour de France. It was a good test in function for an important event such as the Olympics. It was nice to win in front of my friends and my family, It was great. Even Bert did a great race.
“Tomorrow I'll go home, I will recover, and I will focus on the last training sessions before the Tour.”
A surprise bronze medallist was Lars Teutenberg (FC Lexxi Speedbike), the 41-year-old elder brother of Specialized-lululemon’s Ina Teutenberg, who also took the women’s bronze medal. Lars, who worked as the Highroad team’s technical development manager - and spent much of the morning setting up the Specilaized-lululemon bikes, finished just 29 seconds behind Grabsch, and knocked Stefan Schumacher (Christina Watches-Onfone) into fourth place.
Ina Teutenberg was just six seconds behind teammate Worrack, pushing another Specialized-lululemon teammate, last year’s silver medallist Charlotte Becker, into fourth.
“Of course, I’m delighted to have retained my title, but 44 minutes flat out still hurts quite a bit,” said Arndt. “The pressure was great, I’m obviously very relieved. The advantage was clear; I think I’m at about 97 percent of my top level.”
For Worrack the important thing was not the medal, but the opportunity that it might lead to.
“The gap to Judith is a big one,” she conceded, “but for me it was not about the scale, it was about my chances of making the team for the Olympics.”
Results German national time trial championships
Elite men
1. Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step, 40.68km in 47’21”
2. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step @ 1’25”
3. Lars Teutenberg (Ger) FC Lexxi Superbike @ 1’54”
4. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Christina Watches-Onfone @ 2’16”
5. Nils Plötner (Ger) Team Raiko Stölting @ 3’35”
6. Friedrich Meingast (Ger) RC Herpersdorf 1919 @ 3’37”
7. Peter Renner (Ger) RC Herpersdorf 1919 @ 4’03”
8. Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano @ 4’07”
9. Giulio Focardi (Ger) Team Optim e Radsport @ 4’32”
10. Richard Stockhausen (Ger) G.S. Dil Maltini Lampadari @ 4’35”
Elite women
1. Judith Arndt (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge, 33.68km in 44’28”
2. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-lulelemon @ 45s
3. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Specialized-lulelemon @ 51s
4. Charlotte Becker (Ger) Specialized-lulelemon @ 1’08”
5. Adelheid Schütz (Ger) VC Corona Weiden @ 1’09”
6. Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) RusVelo @ 2’02”
7. Claudia Häusler (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge @ 2’20”
8. Lisa Fischer (Ger) maxx-Solar biEHLER Cycling Team 2012 @ 3’13”
9. Stephanie Pohl (Ger) LKT Team Brandenburg @ 3’17”
10. Madeleine Sandig (Ger) LKT Team Brandenburg @ 3’29”