Jumping from third to first on the general classification, Tony Martin seized both the stage result and the overall victory with a powerful ride in today’s final time trial at the Volta ao Algarve.
The HTC Highroad rider took 20 minutes 53 seconds to cover the 17 kilometre course, beating Vacansoleil’s Lieuwe Westra by five seconds and the Team RadioShack rider Tiago Machado by 26. The promising young American Tejay Van Garderen (HTC Highroad) was a solid sixth, 30 seconds back, and finished the race an excellent second overall.
Overnight race leader Steve Cummings was 26th in the race against the clock, one minute and three seconds back, and dropped to seventh place in GC. He crashed twice on yesterday’s stage and his Sky Procycling team said that today’s test was going to be more difficult for him as a result.
“Stevie gave it everything he had but it was always going to be a big ask when he was going up against the likes of Tony Martin and Alberto Contador,” said directeur sportif Sean Yates afterwards. “Apart from Fabian Cancellara, Martin is the best time triallist in the world, and has been for some time, and when you're sitting behind Contador in the start gate it can be pretty daunting.
“Stevie was only a few seconds down on Alberto at the halfway point but then he just ran out of juice a bit at the end there. Having the injuries he had from yesterday didn't help matters, because his body was obviously trying to fix itself, and that will definitely have sapped some of his strength.”
Another who was off the pace he wanted was Saxo Bank SunGard’s Alberto Contador. The Spaniard was only 15th in the test, conceding 45 seconds – and with it, his chance of taking the overall – to Martin.
The latter’s directeur sportif said the result was as a result of the excellent condition of Martin. “It all went really well,” stated Brian Holm. “The course was pretty tough, a few tricky corners, but when Tony's in the kind of form he's got right now, to be honest, that didn't matter much. They could have thrown anything at him and he'll still have done well."
“Tejay also did a great time, but we weren't surprised. We could see from the training camp that both of them were in really good shape.”
He said the entire team checked out the course this morning, with Martin doing it a second time to make certain he knew it well. Both started quickly and kept going at the same pace, making it certain they would ride well as long as they avoided punctures and crashes.
Contador won the race last year, but has spent the last few months fighting a positive control for Clenbuterol. He only began racing this week and wasn’t in the same shape as he was twelve months ago.
He said the most important thing was to be taking part. “The time trial has not come out quite right, but to be here is already a triumph,” he explained.
“I'm very happy, but you always want to do it better. I think I had a good performance for the first race. I've read in a newspaper that I have spent 205 days without racing, and that is too much”.
He still faces the prospect of an appeal by WADA and the UCI against his acquittal by the Spanish cycling federation RFEC. As long as he is not sidelined again because of that, he feels that the way things have gone could work out well for him.
“I have done things differently than in other years, when I came here with a lot of pressure to win the race,” he said. “This year, however, I could not train so much. But this will also be better because I always start the year very strongly and then I have to measure my breaks. This year, however, I will go calmly.”
Martin’s final winning margin over Van Garderen was 32 seconds. Westra jumped up to third, 39 seconds back, while Contador was a further two seconds behind. Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal showed solid early season form in placing sixteenth overall.
Cummings will be left rueing what might have been. However Yates feels he’ll take away a lot from the experience. “He's been fantastic all week though and we've all had a really fun time down here in Portugal. For Stevie to be right up there with the best in the business is quite something and it will give him a huge amount of confidence for the future,” he stated.
----
Volta ao Algarve (2.1), Feb 16 – 20:
Stage 5 time trial, Lagoa – Portimão:
1, Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) 17.2 kilometres in 20 mins 53 secs
2, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) at 5 secs
3, Tiago Machado (RadioShack) at 26 secs
4, Jesse Sergent (RadioShack) at 27 secs
5, Andreas Klöden (RadioShack) at 30 secs
6, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC Highroad) at 30 secs
7, Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) at 30 secs
8, Sébastien Rosseler (RadioShack) at 31 secs
9, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) at 39 secs
10, Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) at 42 secs
11, Bert Grabsch (HTC Highroad) at 42 secs
12, Nélson Oliveira (RadioShack) at 44 secs
13, František Rabon (HTC Highroad) at 44 secs
14, Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) at 44 secs
15, Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank SunGard) at 45 secs
Final overall standings:
1, Tony Martin (HTC – Highroad) 18 hours 48 mins 45 secs
2, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC - Highroad) at 32 secs
3, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) at 39 secs
4, Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) at 41 secs
5, Andreas Klöden (RadioShack) at 46 secs
6, Tiago Machado (RadioShack) at 47 secs
7, Steven Cummings (Team Sky) at 53 secs
8, Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) at 59 secs
9, Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) at 1 min 04
10, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) at 1 min 05
11, Simon Gerrans (Team Sky) at 1 min 18
12, Sylvain Chavanel (Quick-Step) at 1 min 22
13, Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) at 1 min 24
14, Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare) at 1 min 40
15, Wout Poels (Vacansoleil) at 1 min 47