Project 1t4i missed its chance to sign Tony Martin as he joined Quick Step for 2012 season
Project 1t4i already has a number of German cyclists in its squad and the team was also interested to include the World Time Trial Champion, Tony Martin, in its squad. Iwan Spekebrink, the team’s Manager, mentioned that he was keen to sign the German Time
Triallist specialist but he has already signed up with Team Quick Step.
He said, “We had very good talks, partially because both sides have similar views of cycling, whether it is training, technical, equipment or organisation. We were close to an agreement. Unfortunately he decided for Quick Step. We respect that and it changes
nothing about our good impression that we have of Tony as a cyclist and person”.
Iwan further added that, “When it became clear that HTC would stop at the end of the season, we went after Tony”.
Tony has already signed up with the Belgian squad for the coming season after a long stay with Team HTC-Highroad.
Tony Martin joined his first professional team in 2008 and stayed with the American squad, HTC Highroad, for a period of four years.
He experienced great success during the time spent with the team. He finished the stage 2 of Giro d’ Italia 2008 at the second position.
Tony successfully finished a total number of one Giro d’ Italia and three Tour de France in his career.
The team has German, French and Dutch riders in its squad. Some of the major athletes to represent the team in coming season include, Patrick Gretsch, John Degenkolb whereas Alexandre Geniez and Marcel Kittel have been retained by the team.
Martin’s performance in the 2011 season earned him a lot of respect, as he was approached by a number of teams. He secured the 6th position at the UCI Individual rankings as of October 2011.
He won the World Time Trial Championships in 2011 along with a stage 20 win at the Tour de France 2011. Tony also won the stage 10 of Vuelta a Espana 2011, along with his overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve and the Tour of Beijing 2011.
Meanwhile, Project 1t4i is hoping to get the World Tour license in the 2013 season and it will be interesting to see if it succeeds in its ambitions for the coming seasons.
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