HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin, last year's second place finisher behind Andy Schleck in the best young rider classification at the Tour de France, heads into today's opening time trial at the Tour de Suisse with what he describes as "very good condition."
The 25-year-old German, nicknamed the Panzerwagen, will, however, not be aiming for the overall in Switzerland's national tour as he did in 2009.
"Even if my form is as good as it was last year, I'm probably only going to focus on a stage or two and give it a go."
The rider from Cottbus is setting his goals a bit lower this year because of an intensive week of training in France immediately preceding the Tour de Suisse. The fatigue from both training and travel over the last week could see Martin starting the Tour de Suisse at a bit of a disadvantage, but the work in France went well.
"I rode the most important part of the Tour's mountain stages in both the Alps and the Pyrenees. I first have to see how I feel in the race."
Tony Martin is no slouch in a time trial, but he doesn't see any chances for himself in Saturday's opening time trial in Lugano. However, he is aiming at next Sunday's race concluding time trail in Liestal. "I will go all out there, and I think that I'll be good enough to be far up in the standings."
The Tour de Suisse will not just be about Martin's preparations for his overall ambitions. The Tour de Suisse will also play an important final dress rehearsal for the HTC-Columbia team, as they get one of the most feared leadout trains in cycling back up to speed.
Martin is quick to recognize the importance of the Tour de Suisse in this regard: "This is the last chance before the Tour for us to work on our sprint train."
Michael Rogers has already said that he will not be participating in the leadouts in the upcoming Tour de France. It will be interesting to see how the absence of a big engine will affect the sprint finales. If Tony Martin is able to put together some solid early performances, it would be assumed that he would take a step back from the leadout as well in hopes of a solid overall finish. Where will the line be drawn in the delicate balance between possible overall ambitions and the almost certainty of a Green Jersey in Paris if all goes to plan?