Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Tony Martin is ready to go, for both the UCI World TTT Championship on Sunday, and to defend his rainbow jersey at the UCI World TT Championship on Wednesday. We spoke with him on Saturday about his preparation, and also the chances of the team to get top results.
Tony, you did the TTT parcour twice already. What is your feeling about it?
I did it three times because we also did it three weeks before with the team. It's a really nice parcour. At the beginning it is very hard, a lot of left and right, a lot of roundabouts. But today the course was more or less closed to traffic. I had a really good feeling. It was really fast, even in training we averaged almost 46km/h. It's a nice course, good for the team. I think we have some of the strongest guys on the team. I think we can really focus on using our power and not so much on the technical things. I think the course really fits our skills.
Is there a key point to the race?
I think the key points will be the climbs, because it's really important to not lose time, but to also not kill the team. If you have a strong guy maybe he could go a little harder on the climbs, but the others will just be suffering. The stronger guy then destroys them, it's not good at all for the rest of the parcour. I think it's important to find a good rhythm, stay calm on the climbs. Set a good pace. I think everybody is really optimistic and clever — they know what they have to do. We are six really good individual riders and we are now also a really good team. The spirit is perfect. I think everyone wants to win.
What do you think of the competitors? Who do you think will be the tough teams for us?
There are two or three other teams at least. When you look at the start list, they also have six strong individual guys for their teams. You have to watch BMC, Team Sky ... but we don't have to be afraid. On the list we are one of the strongest teams. We showed so many times in the past we are perfect as a team especially in the TTT. If we can play these cards tomorrow we should be among the best.
About the ITT on Wednesday. It's a different parcour, correct?
Yeah I really wish they would make the TTT course also for the ITT because the ITT does not fit me 100 percent. The first part is OK for me but the second part is a lot of corners, left and right. Much more up and down than in the TTT. It's OK, I can deal with it, but it's not a perfect course for me. I think it was really good to see the parcour weeks before so I could keep it in mind and be focused. But it will be a really hard race. I went there the day after the Eneco Tour. I did one time TTT and the ITT courses then. Now I heard maybe there is a good chance for rain, which will make it harder. But at the moment I am really focused on the TTT. I think we have two really good chances.
How did you handle preparation for both races? The TTT and ITT?
Sunday is just one hour. Maybe it's not so bad to also get the muscles in the TT rhythm. I made a good preparation for Sunday. I am sure Sunday will give me a benefit for Wednesday. The thing is, every rider who races the ITT will have also raced the TTT. So I think we all have the same circumstances. Should be the same for everybody.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sebastien Smets
