Martin blasts to victory in Beijing

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Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) celebrated his first outing in the rainbow bands of world time trial champion by cruising to victory in the opening time trial of the inaugural Tour of Beijing. The German was the last man down the start ramp for the 11.4km test around the Olympic Park, and he lived up to his billing by putting all of 17 seconds into second-placed David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo).

“It is my first time in the rainbow jersey and now the first victory in the jersey so it’s a really special day for me and it is also an honour to be the first stage winner at the Tour of Beijing,” Martin said afterwards.

The riders set out from underneath the shadow of the striking Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium, but while the backdrop was new to the WorldTour, the novelty of the day in racing terms was the fact that the riders competed on standard road bikes rather than their usual time trial machines.

Nevertheless, Martin had the wherewithal to transfer his world championships form from Copenhagen to Beijing and even powered past his one-minute man, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), en route to an emphatic victory.

“It was a short course and we weren’t allowed to ride on the TT bikes so it was a difficult situation for me but I was really motivated and I still have the power and condition I had at the Worlds,” Martin said.

The early pace-setter was Sky’s Alex Dowsett and the young British specialist ended the day in third place, 24 seconds down on Martin. Indeed, it was a solid day all around from Sky, who also placed Vuelta a España revelation Chris Froome and Steve Cummings in the top five to take the lead in the team standings.

In the race for the overall leader’s red jersey, however, Martin has already placed himself in a very commanding position, as he put over half a minute into all but three of his competitors in a shade over 11km. The German protested that he is unsure of his climbing form, but admitted that he would attempt to defend his jersey.

“Everybody said the man who can win the time trial can win the tour here, so we will try,” he said. “I don’t know what the conditions are in the mountains. It has been a long time since I have ridden in the mountains so I will have to see how I go.”

The biggest loser of the day was Sanchez, who won Olympic gold in Beijing three years ago. The Spaniard was stricken by illness and suffered the indignity of being caught and passed by Martin. He lies 1:57 down, surely already out of the running for overall victory.

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