Rider Diary: Tony Martin
As told to James Startt
13th March 2009

The KOM leader from Team Columbia tells Bicycling about his Paris-Nice experience so far.

German rider Tony Martin, 23, has been hailed as the best rider his country has produced since Jan Ullrich. A strong time-trial rider and solid climber, he possesses the necessary keys to stage racing.

This has been my first Paris-Nice race. It feels great to ride here-it's one of the great races. I came to see how I could ride in the overall classification for a hard stage race like this. The winds here are really strong. It's like racing in Belgium, but with more climbing. I got dropped in the crosswinds on stage three and that pretty much ruined my chances for a good overall place. I lost nearly 10 minutes just that day.

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