German concerned by mountainous route: ‘Even if it this edition is difficult, I will try’
He won overall in 2011 on the back of a victorious time trial performance and last year pulled off another success after he broke clear on stage two, soloing in to his first road race stage win in over three years.
Tony Martin has said that he will give his all to take his third consecutive victory, but admits that the race profile is not ideal for him to be able to chase the final win.
“I am happy to be here, my condition is good,” said the German, who took his third consecutive world time trial title last month.
“[The] worlds really motivated me to get ready for Tour of Beijing as well, but to be honest the parcours this year is not really for me. There is no TT and there are a few uphill finishes.”
The toughest finale on the race is likely to be the summit finish to Mentougou Miaofeng, but there are several other days where the uphills will be very important.
Martin has tended to take his biggest results on flatter terrain, although he has also performed well on climbs in the past.
He pledges to give it everything to try to take another overall win, but admits that he could end up riding for another Omega Pharma Quick Step rider.
“It’s kind of at the end of the season, so it is a question of being committed to try and do my best to defend my title. This race in the past gave me a lot of luck and I was really happy to win the last two years,” he explained.
“Even if it this edition is difficult, I will try. However, we have a great team able to fight for the sprint with Alessandro Petacchi and Nikolas Maes. We also have a few other weapons. Zdenek Stybar and Michal Golas, for example, can really play tactical roles in the team. So maybe they can also take advantage of the parcours.”
He feels the important thing is to be flexible, to be willing to try something new. “As for my presence at the race, we will have to change our tactic if we compare it with what we did in the last two years. The team is good, so we are looking forward to this race — even with a different approach.”