Martin wins fourth career world TT title in Doha

DOHA (AFP) — Germany’s Tony Martin won the men’s time trial title in Qatar on Wednesday for a record-tying fourth time.

Martin obliterated the field of 66 riders, winning by 45 seconds over last year’s champion Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus. Spain’s Jonathan Castroviejo was a further 25 seconds back in third.

Top-10 results

• 1. Tony MARTIN, (GER), in 44:42.99
• 2. Vasil KIRYIENKA, (BLR), at :45.05
• 3. Jonathan CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS, (ESP), at 1:10.91
• 4. Maciej BODNAR, (POL), at 1:16.77
• 5. Ryan MULLEN, (IRL), at 1:21.75
• 6. Rohan DENNIS, (AUS), at 1:27.12
• 7. Yves LAMPAERT, (BEL), at 1:45.11
• 8. Jos VAN EMDEN, (NED), at 1:45.41
• 9. Reto HOLLENSTEIN, (SUI), at 1:51.51
• 10. Bob JUNGELS, (LUX), at 1:56.59

Martin previously won the world TT title in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and he joins Fabian Cancellara as the only four-time winners of the event. “It’s amazing, I can’t believe it,” said Martin afterward. “Everybody knows that I haven’t had a good year. But this makes everything OK — the course was made for me.”

Olympic silver medalist Tom Dumoulin, one of the pre-race favorites, finished 11th.

The race was surprisingly led for a long time by Ireland’s Ryan Mullen, who eventually finished fifth.

It is the second time this week Martin has taken gold, having also triumphed in the team time trial in his last race for his Etixx – Quick-Step outfit.

Martin told reporters that his first victory in Copenhagen was the most special to him, but he would try and beat the record he shares with Cancellara.

“I am still motivated to go for the fifth or sixth title, I am not close to the end of my career, and after today I am more motivated to go for more titles.”

He added that before this season his form was such that he had begun to doubt whether he was still a “really big time trialer.”

The race began in temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) as the flat course took riders from just north of Doha to the finish on a man-made island on the fringes of Qatar’s capital.

Martin said he had prepared thoroughly for the conditions — he said earlier in the week he had trained on rollers in a heated room — and averaged almost 54 kilometers per hour throughout the ride.

He was ahead of his rivals by the second checkpoint and his victory was never in doubt after that, yet the 31-year-old admitted he was surprised by the margin of victory.

Second-placed Kiryienka said he was very satisfied with his performance and placing, despite losing his world title, and had the “deepest respect” for Martin’s victory.

“This [result] is not a surprise,” he said. “The surprise was last year when Tony Martin did not stand on the podium.”

Martin finished seventh last year, more than a minute behind the Belarussian.

Castroviejo admitted he struggled with the heat in Qatar and called the course “very difficult.”

Complete results

• 1. Tony MARTIN, (GER), in 44:42.99
• 2. Vasil KIRYIENKA, (BLR), at :45.05
• 3. Jonathan CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS, (ESP), at 1:10.91
• 4. Maciej BODNAR, (POL), at 1:16.77
• 5. Ryan MULLEN, (IRL), at 1:21.75
• 6. Rohan DENNIS, (AUS), at 1:27.12
• 7. Yves LAMPAERT, (BEL), at 1:45.11
• 8. Jos VAN EMDEN, (NED), at 1:45.41
• 9. Reto HOLLENSTEIN, (SUI), at 1:51.51
• 10. Bob JUNGELS, (LUX), at 1:56.59
• 11. Tom DUMOULIN, (NED), at 2:01.51
• 12. Alex DOWSETT, (GBR), at 2:11.08
• 13. Martin Toft MADSEN, (DEN), at 2:11.42
• 14. Marcin BIALOBLOCKI, (POL), at 2:15.30
• 15. Taylor PHINNEY, (USA), at 2:21.68
• 16. Anton VOROBYEV, (RUS), at 2:22.67
• 17. Stefan KUENG, (SUI), at 2:25.04
• 18. Luke DURBRIDGE, (AUS), at 2:28.34
• 19. Andriy GRIVKO, (UKR), at 2:34.95
• 20. Nelson Filipe SANTOS SIMOES OLIVEIRA, (POR), at 2:35.60
• 21. Gatis SMUKULIS, (LAT), at 2:37.85
• 22. Manuel QUINZIATO, (ITA), at 2:39.35
• 23. Vegard Stake LAENGEN, (NOR), at 2:44.01
• 24. Primož ROGLIC, (SLO), at 2:46.06
• 25. Stephen CUMMINGS, (GBR), at 2:48.53
• 26. Victor CAMPENAERTS, (BEL), at 2:51.00
• 27. Jack BAUER, (NZL), at 3:04.37
• 28. Alexey VERMEULEN, (USA), at 3:15.00
• 29. Hugo HOULE, (CAN), at 3:17.24
• 30. Nicolas ROCHE, (IRL), at 3:17.57
• 31. Ryan ROTH, (CAN), at 3:21.44
• 32. Kanstantsin SIUTSOU, (BLR), at 3:25.59
• 33. Jasha SÜTTERLIN, (GER), at 3:26.51
• 34. Jérémy ROY, (FRA), at 3:28.52
• 35. Johan LE BON, (FRA), at 3:29.21
• 36. Søren Kragh ANDERSEN, (DEN), at 3:43.97
• 37. Imanol ERVITI, (ESP), at 3:45.96
• 38. Gediminas BAGDONAS, (LTU), at 3:47.13
• 39. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN, (NOR), at 3:50.03
• 40. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, (KAZ), at 4:04.39
• 41. Walter Alejandro VARGAS ALZATE, (COL), at 4:32.37
• 42. Ramunas NAVARDAUSKAS, (LTU), at 4:43.94
• 43. Maxim BELKOV, (RUS), at 5:01.51
• 44. Daniel TUREK, (CZE), at 5:05.81
• 45. Branislau SAMOILAU, (BLR), at 5:08.39
• 46. Mekseb DEBESAY, (ERI), at 5:09.99
• 47. Andriy VASYLYUK, (UKR), at 5:28.88
• 48. Muradjan HALMURATOV, (UZB), at 5:46.52
• 49. Elchin ASADOV, (AZE), at 5:49.44
• 50. Eugert ZHUPA, (ALB), at 5:52.91
• 51. Maxim AVERIN, (AZE), at 6:49.11
• 52. Redi HALILAJ, (ALB), at 6:55.30
• 53. Polychronis TZORTZAKIS, (GRE), at 7:08.86
• 54. Soufiane HADDI, (MAR), at 7:39.18
• 55. Naveen JOHN, (IND), at 7:48.15
• 56. Zhandos BIZHIGITOV, (KAZ), at 7:49.65
• 57. Meron TESHOME HAGOS, (ERI), at 7:59.40
• 58. Burr HO, (HKG), at 8:23.62
• 59. Bonaventure UWIZEYIMANA, (RWA), at 10:22.54
• 60. Afif ABDULLAH, (QAT), at 12:53.79
• 61. Arvind PANWAR, (IND), at 13:30.99
• 62. Alban NUHA, (KOS), at 13:42.35
• 63. Sultan ASSIRI, (KSA), at 15:22.97
• 64. Mohsin KHAN, (PAK), at 15:50.70
• 65. Hafiz Tahir MAHMOOD, (PAK), at 16:23.03
• 66. Saied Jafer ALALI, (KUW), at 16:32.52
• DNS Matti MANNINEN, (FIN)
• DNS Mansoor JAWAD, (BRN)
• DNS Salman Hasan ALSAFFAR, (KUW)
• DNS Sayed Ahmed ALAWI, (BRN)