Tour de France: Martin bounces back from disappointment to finally take yellow

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Just when it looked like the yellow jersey would slip through Tony Martin’s fingers for the fourth time in as many days the Etixx-QuickStep rider managed to pull something special out of the bag. A puncture on the penultimate sector of cobbles looked like it had finally put paid to any ambition Martin still held of taking yellow. However, the big German, normally known for his time trial skills, utilised his supreme power to jump clear with just over three kilometres remaining and take yellow and the stage win.

It was a cobbled victory that his teammate Tom Boonen would have been proud of and the Belgian was there to congratulate Martin, who was in floods of tears after taking his first-ever yellow jersey. “It was the first time for me that I was preparing for a goal that was such long distance. From November on, after the season break, I was focused on this week in the Tour. I was really sad after missing it in the prologue and also in these days but the story turns now into this. I didn’t expect it,” said a grinning Martin.

“Tom gave me a call this morning to motivate me. He’s never done this before so it was a special sign. Then Eddy Merckx motivates me on the start line, the king of Belgium motivates me in the morning. Obviously I had to win today.”

After the bitter disappointment of missing out in the time trial, Martin had earmarked the cobbled stage as another chance to move into yellow, after reconnoitring it earlier in the year with his teammates. The evening before the stage he was adamant that he would come up trumps today, telling his team that he was targeting the stage win. “Today I was really motivated and I also knew that I am one of the best here. I think yesterday was harder but today's stage suited me better, so I could play with my power. I’m more a classics rider than a climber,” he said.