A stage winner on the cobbles in the 2015 Tour de France, Tony Martin has declared that he wants to target Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and other cobblestone events in 2018.
“For me, my race schedule will be more open next season but personally, I’m looking forward to Paris-Roubaix and to put in a good performance in the spring,” Martin told ‘Cyclist’.
The Katusha-Alpecin rider raced Paris-Roubaix for the first time in 2016, when he made a surprise attack that allowed teammate Tom Boonen to take the second position.
“You need to be lucky with no punctures or crashes, plus there are so many different ways that the race can be won. I can think of 1,000 different scenarios, Martin said.
“But for me, the perfect scenario would be to get away early from the main bunch, get alone and then settle down into my own rhythm.”
After the spring classics, Martin will move on to help new teammate Marcel Kittel in the sprint train.
“We will, for sure, have the manpower. I am really happy Alex Dowsett will be joining for the sprint train and team time trial,” said Martin.
“Then with Marcel, we have one of the best sprinters in the peloton who is also intelligent and a good teacher. We have what we need but it up to us to bring it.”
