Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Tony Martin put a fitting end to a season full of time trial victories with yet another win in his favourite discipline on Sunday, winning the 57.03km Chrono des Nations with a time of 1:10:48 (48.3 km/h).
The three-time UCI World TT Champion won with a 14" advantage on Gustav Larsson (IAM Cycling), and 45" on teammate and five-time French National TT Champion Sylvain Chavanel, who was runner-up last year.
Martin had 11 victories, including a stage of the Tour de France and the UCI World TT Championship, going into this race. By winning Sunday’s edition of the Chrono des Nations, Martin also completed his hat-trick of wins in the event.
“Of course I’m happy that I was able to win in my favourite discipline and finish off the season on a high,” Martin wrote on his website when commenting on his last race of the season. “It was really tough out there today, but fortunately I was the last rider to start and thus I always had the split times of my competitors to navigate by.”
The triple world time trial champion experienced a rather unpleasant surprise before the start, though. A commissioner searched him for pads under his time trial suit.
“After the absurd allegations concerning an arm spoiler at the World Cup they had a mandate to control me," said Martin. "I did not care. I have nothing to hide. But it was funny anyway. That's never happened to me, "he added.
The Chrono des Nations also marked the end of the career for Italian Marco Pinotti (BMC Racing Team) who finished fourth on the day, one minute down on Martin.
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