German powerhouse Tony Martin won his third straight UCI World TT Championship. In one of the most hotly anticipated time trials of the year. The Omega Pharma – Quick-Step rider was inseparable from Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara at the first intermediate split (7.3km) and it looked like Bradley Wiggins – who had made a slow start – would be settling for Bronze, but as Martin upped his game Cancellara faded, ultimately taking third place 48seconds adrift of Martin’s 1hr 05’36”, with Wiggins in Silver on +46. His victory across the 57.2km course in Florence marked the 58th win (56th road win) for Omega Pharma – Quick-Step in 2013.
Commenting on the day Martin said, ‘The last five kilometers were like a celebration for me because I knew I had an advantage of about 40 seconds. I didn’t expect the gap to be that big at all. I expected a battle on the cobbles. I was a little bit afraid of it, I know Cancellara is a specialist on the small corners with the cobbles, so I knew I needed some gaps. I think the gap was high enough, and so I didn’t have to go 100 percent and it was good to not take risks. I knew without a puncture or crash I should win. It was just a really nice final for me. I think it was really a perfect ride, from point A to B. I think it was more or less the same as my first Worlds victory in Copenhagen. I think I really needed this because when you almost win everything in time trials that you could in the past, you need some pressure so you can go to the limit. This was the right pressure for me going into this race. I could work with it. I think this is really the highlight of the season.’