Taking his fifth win in a row, Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) lived up to expectations at the German TT Championships. The multiple world champion was a massive 1.39 faster than Jasha Sütterlin while Nils Politt (Katusha) was 2.23 behind in third.
Since he turned professional in 2008, it has never happened before that Tony Martin has got to the month of June before getting his first win. However, the 2016 season has been a meagre one for the former TT world champion and for the first time ever he has entered the summer with a blank account.
Luckily, Martin can always fall back on the German TT Championships as a chance to open his account and there was no doubt that he was the overwhelming favourite for today's 41km race in Streudorf. Unsurprisingly, Martin turned out to be in a class of his own, posting the best times at every time check before stopping the clock in 49.14. That turned out to be 1.39 faster than Jasha Sütterlin who had beaten previous leader Nils Politt by 44 seconds to move into the hot seat just five minutes earlier. The Katusha neo-professional won the bronze in his first elite race.
The win was Martin's sixth and his fifth in a row. After two podium spots, he first won the title in 2010 before being beaten by Bert Grabsch in 2011, the year he won his first rainbow jersey. Since then, he has won the race every year.
Martin will now turn his attention to Sunday's road race where he is likely to ride in support on Marcel Kittel on a mostly flat course.
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