Although he beat the reigning world champion Fabian Cancellara in the Tour de France time trial and again in yesterday’s 47 kilometre Salamanca test, HTC Highroad Tony Martin has said that he isn’t writing off his rival in next month’s big clash in Copenhagen.
He said after the stage that he received a confidence boost from his clear 59 second beating of closest rival Chris Froome (Sky Procycling) and 1 minute 27 second margin of superiority over Cancellara, but that it was too soon to make any assumptions.
“I think it was my last test before the worlds. Victory here makes me very confident for the upcoming worlds,” he said in a post-race TV interview. However he said he’s aware that things can turn around in a short space of time. “I think we saw it last year…Fabian was also a little bit behind, and then he became world champion. He is the biggest rider you have to beat for the worlds, so for sure he is one of the favourites.”
Martin has had a very successful season, winning time trials in the Tour, Critérium du Dauphiné, Volta al Pais Vasco, Paris-Nice and Volta ao Algarve and also taking the overall victory in the latter two. Yesterday’s success added to that, although he admitted that it was a real test to remain concentrated due to the nature of the course.
“It was pretty hard for the head as you always had long roads and no real point [ahead] which you could focus on. I think you had to be really strong in the head to do well in the race.”
Having won, his morale has received a significant boost and helps him believe he can step up from last year’s bronze medal. “I came here to prepare for the worlds. For sure when there is a long time trial I am always focussed. It was my goal here to win and now I am pretty confident for the worlds,” he said.