World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) once again proved that he is back to his best after a difficult 2012 when he won today's final time trial of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco on a course not suited to his characteristics. After having lost all GC hopes due to a crash, he stayed in the race just to get the chance to express his talents in today's race against the clock.

After dominating the time trials in 2011, Tony Martin had a disappointing 2012 season. He failed to be his usual dominant self in the race against the clock and even though he defended his world time trial championships, he had expected more from himself.

Indications this year are that he is back to his best, and today's was his third time trial victory of the season. With wins in Algarve in February and the Tirreno-Adriatico, he is unbeaten in the discipline so far.

The German had intended to go for the GC in the Basque race, but a crash in stage 1 and subsequent wrist pain meant that he had to turn his focus towards success in today's stage.

"I'm very very happy with this victory," he said. "I was here for the GC but I crashed the first day and the GC dreams went away because of the pain I had to the wrist. I was really disappointed. I was here to make a good classification. I don't know if I could have made it until the finish, but the truth is that I was here for a top five. Together with the team I maintained the focus for this TT. I was riding with pain the entire week but I kept going on thinking about this TT."

A difficult course

With numerous steep hills, treacherous descents and technical sections, the time trial was certainly not one for the specialists. Knowing that the course did not favor the powerful German, he knew that preparation was key to a good performance.

"I knew it wasn't an easy parcours for me with a lot of up and down stretches," he explained. "But I was really committed. This morning it was also snowing and then we had the rain. But when I'm focused I can keep it out of my mind. This morning I went to see the parcours both by car and by bike. I really knew the parcours 100 percent."

Martin will now focus on recovering from his wrist injury before he targets overall victory in the Tour de Romandie later this month.

"Concerning my wrist, I think things are going better day by day," he said. "During next week I will pass other medical checks just to make another evaluation. I also want to wish the team good luck at Paris-Roubaix tomorrow."

Perfect team support

The team knew that their best chance for a stage win was in today's time trial and so it was imperative for the squad to keep their world champion in the race. Much of the team's efforts during the week were focused on getting him safely through the stages despite the pain.

"There was good team work together with Tony," sports director Jan Schaffrath said. "All the guys supported Tony perfectly during the week. Because of the crash he couldn't really shift and brake in the first two days. But he was so focused and the team really committed around him."

"Yesterday was a really hard stage, but we made it and we brought him up to the finish. This morning we worked really hard for the race. In the morning he checked out the parcours even by bike. It was important for his trust and for the last adjustments. The set-up of the bike was perfect."

With Martin falling out of GC contention, Peter Velits was the team's option in the overall. The Slovakian ended up 20th.