OPQS Best Moments 2013: Tony Triumphant After Tour Misfortune
The next installment of our OPQS Best Moments series is perhaps one of the most dominant performances of Tony Martin, despite winning by impressive margins throughout the year in his time trial specialty. The victory was also extra special because the German rider made a bit of a comeback in the Tour de France. A Stage 1 crash threatened to end his Tour when it practically just began. However, Martin never gave up hope of victory in the 33km Stage 11 ITT, and he in turn boosted his own team's morale leading up to the time trial in Mont Saint-Michel.
Martin won in jaw dropping fashion, all riders except eventual Tour de France overall winner Chris Froome (Team Sky ProCycling) by more than a minute. Martin beat Froome by 12" with a time of 36'29" (54.271km/h).
Other OPQS riders also had impressive performances: Michal Kwiatkowski finished 5th, 1'31" back from his teammate Martin, and French rider Sylvain Chavanel finished 7th, 1'37" back. Polish rider Kwiatkowski put himself back into the white jersey for best young rider as the result of his very strong ride on his Specialized Shiv.
"I was really honored to be at the Tour de France and I wanted to be sure I could race that time trial, even after my crash," Martin said. "It was really good for the morale of the team to see me fight to stay in the race, and then when we got to Stage 11 I could tell my teammates fed off my spirit. It was a special victory, and it gave me great motivation for the rest of the season."
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