Tony Martin has abandoned the Vuelta a Espana. The German will now focus on recovery ahead of the World Championships where he targets several records.

"It's always a shame to abandon a race when it's not yet over," Martin said. "But, the first two weeks of racing here have been difficult and I also went absolutely full gas in the time trial for my victory. It took a while to recover 100 percent.

"It's no secret that I am aiming for the UCI World Time Trial Championships in a couple weeks. To me, winning these are even more important than ever before. I can help OPQS as we try to win a third straight TTT gold medal. I can also set a record if I win a fourth straight individual time trial championship. It will be particularly important to arrive fresh because there are less than three days between each time trial championship. So, I am optimizing recovery in function of my goals.

"I wish good luck to all of my teammates at La Vuelta, especially Rigo, as they defend his position in the GC and will do their best for another stage victory in the final days of racing. They have done well so far and I have no doubt this will continue."