Tony Martin of Germany won the UCI Elite Men Time Trial race and retained his title. Taylor Phinney of Unites States finished in second, only 5 seconds behind Martin, while Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus finished in third, at 1 minute and 45 seconds.

As a defending world champion, Tony Martin was the last rider to start. He showed a really strong performance over the hilly, 52.3 km Limburg course. 27-year-old German rider caught and past pre-race favorite Alberto Contador (Spain). Another pre-race favorite Taylor Phinney of United States also was on a good day. There was a great battle against the clock between Martin and Phinney in the final kilometers, especially at Cauberg climb and the long flat afterward. But Martin successfully beat Phinney’s time with only 5 seconds and retained his UCI Time Trial World Champion title.

Tony Martin world champion - UCI Worlds 2012 Time Trial Podium
UCI Worlds 2012 Elite Men Time Trial podium: 1- Tony Martin (Germany), 2- Taylor Phinney (USA), 3- Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)

With that result, Taylor Phinney, the 22-year-old American missed out on becoming the youngest ever world time trial champion by just 5.37 seconds.

2011 Under 23 UCI World Time Trial Champion Luke Durbridge of Australia finished in 21st, 3:17 behind.

Tony Martin, Omega Pharma-Quick-Step, reflects on the successful defense of his TT World Championship.

Tony Martin’s 2012 Season

Martin began 2012 with second overall in the Volta ao Algarve, finishing second to Bradley Wiggins by less than a second in the final time trial. In April, Martin lost consciousness after colliding with a car during training and sustained injuries, wrecking his early season. Martin returned to action at the Tour of Belgium in May, winning the time trial on Stage 4 and taking the overall victory.

At the Tour de France in July, Martin’s hopes of winning the prologue were dashed by a mechanical problem that forced him to switch bikes on course. Martin then crashed the following day on Stage 1, suffering a broken wrist. After suffering more mechanical problems in the next time trial, Stage 9, he withdrew from the competition so that his wrist would have more time to heal before the time trial at the Olympic Games three weeks later. Martin was deemed fit enough to compete, and he claimed silver at the Olympics behind Wiggins.

Tony Martin was also part of the six-man Omega Pharma-Quick-Step team that won the inaugural team time trial for trade teams at the 2012 UCI Road World Championships.

UCI Road World Championships 2012 Elite Men Time Trial Full Results

1 Tony Martin Germany 0:58:38.80
2 Taylor Phinney United States Of America 0:00:05.37
3 Vasil Kiryienka Belarus 0:01:44.99
4 Tejay Van Garderen United States Of America 0:01:49.37
5 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff Sweden 0:01:50.56
6 Dmitriy Gruzdev Kazakhstan 0:01:56.44
7 Jan Barta Czech Republic 0:02:12.49
8 Alex Dowsett Great Britain 0:02:26.06
9 Alberto Contador Velasco Spain 0:02:30.00
10 Adriano Malori Italy 0:02:40.54

11 Andriy Grivko Ukraine 0:02:43.69
12 Svein Tuft Canada 0:02:56.24
13 Tanel Kangert Estonia 0:02:57.13
14 Riccardo Zoidl Austria 0:02:57.27
15 Sylvain Chavanel France 0:02:58.15
16 Cameron Meyer Australia 0:02:59.65
17 Kristijan Koren Slovenia 0:03:05.29
18 Jérémy Roy France 0:03:08.16
19 Gustav Larsson Sweden 0:03:11.99
20 Thomas De Gendt Belgium 0:03:15.29

21 Luke Durbridge Australia 0:03:17.88
22 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas Spain 0:03:23.38
23 Jesse Sergent New Zealand 0:03:25.89
24 Kristof Vandewalle Belgium 0:03:35.66
25 Wilco Kelderman Netherlands 0:03:39.35
26 Maciej Bodnar Poland 0:03:46.06
27 Patrick Gretsch Germany 0:03:48.78
28 Ioannis Tamouridis Greece 0:03:52.35
29 Sergey Firsanov Russian Federation 0:03:56.58

30 Matej Jurco Slovakia 0:03:56.96
31 Sam Bewley New Zealand 0:03:59.21
32 Carlos Oyarzun Chile 0:04:03.43
33 Ramunas Navardauskas Lithuania 0:04:05.98
34 Peter Velits Slovakia 0:04:07.06
35 Rein Taaramae Estonia 0:04:09.84
36 Bert Grabsch Germany 0:04:16.85
37 Jakob Fuglsang Denmark 0:04:18.37
38 Lieuwe Westra Netherlands 0:04:18.79
39 Jay Robert Thomson South Africa 0:04:19.25
40 Janez Brajkovic Slovenia 0:04:19.82

41 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg South Africa 0:04:25.93
42 Alexsandr Dyachenko Kazakhstan 0:04:32.23
43 Gatis Smukulis Latvia 0:04:35.63
44 Ignatas Konovalovas Lithuania 0:04:54.59
45 Mykhaylo Kononenko Ukraine 0:05:09.20
46 Michael Hutchinson Ireland 0:05:22.86
47 Vladimir Gusev Russian Federation 0:05:34.37
48 Eugen Wacker Kyrgyzstan 0:05:43.45
49 Jose Ragonessi Ecuador 0:06:16.66
50 Aleksejs Saramotins Latvia 0:06:19.04

51 Segundo Navarrete Ecuador 0:07:58.00
52 Elchin Asadov Azerbaijan 0:09:12.93
53 Andrei Krasilnikau Belarus 0:09:17.91
54 David Albós Andorra 0:09:18.85
55 Ji-Yung Kang Korea 0:09:19.66
56 Gabor Legyel Hungary 0:13:49.29
DNF Reidar Bohlin Borgersen Norway
DNF Marco Pinotti Italy

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

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