Tony Martin hoping to attempt Hour Record in 2015

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Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) has announced his intentions to target the Hour Record in 2015. Martin doesn't specify when the attempt might take place, but says that it is likely to happen at some point next season. "It's on my agenda," he said in an interview with German website Radsport-News.

"I will discuss it with my team in December so that we can implement it without my goals on the road being affected. That is the essential factor. I need to find time to prepare without affecting my road shape. Since I have capable people around me, and a team that supports me, I think that we will find a date in the coming year."

The German has previously stated his interest in contesting the Hour, but was yet to put a time scale on it. This season has seen two successful Hour Records and one miss after the rules were altered earlier this season to allow modern equipment. Matthias Brändle is the current record holder with the distance of 51.852, beating Jens Voigt's previous marker set in September.

Martin isn't the only top time triallist setting his sights on the event, with Bradley Wiggins potentially making an attempt next summer. Unlike the German, Wiggins has few targets on the road other than a tilt at Paris-Roubaix. This should allow the British rider to spend more time on the track than Martin's road schedule would allow. The 29-year-old admits that this could be an issue, along with Wiggins' proven track pedigree.

"Above all, his advantage from the outset is already infinitely large, in terms of experience. He comes from the track," Martin explained. "I am sure that I will need more time to adapt than he will. Maybe two, three or four experiments will be needed to find the punch that he will have. But I want to work on it, and after the first training on the track I will be able to tell if it is realistic or not."

Wiggins ended Martin's run of time trial world titles in September, beating him by 26 seconds. The Team Sky rider later stated that Ponferrada would be his last bid at the road worlds, meaning that the two are unlikely to come up against each other again. The Hour Record would provide Martin with a rare chance to get one over on Wiggins, but he says that he isn't dwelling on the loss.

"The disappointment gave way pretty rapidly to the fighting spirit and motivation to try for the jersey next year," said Martin. "I was tired and had miscalculated something. I should have had the courage to gap. But I learned from it, and it is better that this is happening now than before the Olympic Games.

"I will correct the faults and show to everyone next year that I am the best."