News: Fourth World TT Title for Martin

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Tony Martin of Germany wins title number four in Doha whilst Ryan Mullen has a super ride to finish fifth with Alex Dowsett 12th

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News: Fourth World TT Title for Martin

Rolling down the ramp with bib number four, an omen for what was to come 45 minutes later, Tony Martin was motivated to make the most out of the strong form he showcased four days ago, when he led Etixx – Quick-Step to victory in the team time trial.

On the 40km-long course which suited him to a tee, the German put in a monster performance to win the World ITT Championships for the fourth time in his career, following the triumphs of 2011, 2012 and 2013, thus equalling a record which was standing for six years.

Tony blitzed the Doha course, setting the reference time at both checkpoints, before concluding the race in 44:42, a result better than the one posted by 9 of the teams who competed in Sunday’s time trial. The 31-year-old put 45 seconds into defending champion Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus), who finished runner-up, and more than a minute into Jonathan Castroviejo, the Spaniard who rounded out the podium. Two other Etixx – Quick-Step riders, Yves Lampaert and Bob Jungels, time trialed their way to a good result on Wednesday afternoon, coming home 7th, respectively 10th.

“After taking the gold medal with the team, to win the rainbow jersey in the individual time trial is just the icing on the cake. I was a bit scared by the heat at first, but having a good preparation here in Qatar helped me cope with it. I rode without any pressure, was focused only on what I had to do, and not on my rivals, and to come out on top is really incredible. I haven’t had a great year up until this point, but to win two world titles in the space of just four days makes up for everything”, said Tony Martin, now one of the two riders to have four victories at the World ITT Championships.

Ryan Mullen 5th

After  Silver medal by a very narrow margin a few years ago in the Under 23 category, Ryan Mullen, racing in Irish colours, has shown against the Worlds Best just what a brilliant ‘tester’ he is. “I don’t really know what happened today, I don’t know if maybe I took a shortcut or something! Ryan Mullen doesn’t get 5th in the world, just 11 seconds off a medal! I’m in disbelief, that’s really good and I just hope I can keep progressing at this level. I was in the hot seat early on, and I just thought they’d push me off it pretty quickly. But I sat there for nearly two hours, and then was off it completely in the space of four minutes!”

“It was warm, as expected,” Dowsett,who was 12th, said. “It was alright for me. I think I managed myself well and I’m not sure I could have done a lot more.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Cummings, who was 25th, explained, ”I think on the day what I had was OK, it wasn’t super. I have been up and down in training in the last few weeks, so it is difficult to judge but on the day I got out everything I had. Like I said, it wasn’t a super day. You can’t expect a lot if you don’t have a super day here at the worlds.

“The heat is a limiting factor but I have been here long enough to adapt as well as I could. It’s difficult then because you lose your threshold”.

“What you can produce at 20-25 degrees is different to what you produce at 30-35 degrees and you don’t have too much time to go out and test. It’s a nice challenge, the same for everyone.”

Stephen Cummings

 

Jack Bauer

Alex Dowsett

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