Paul Martens (born 26 October 1983) is a German former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2021 for the and teams. Martens achieved seven victories during his professional career, including a stage win and a general classification win at the

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a UCI race classifications, 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the UCI World Tour, World Tour, by the ...

, and stage wins at the

Volta ao Algarve Volta may refer to: Persons * Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italian physicist and inventor of the electric battery, count and eponym of the volt * Giovanni Volta (1928–2012), Italian Roman Catholic bishop * Giovanni Serafino Volta (1764–1 ...

, the

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos (province), Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In ...

and the

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium (; ) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several races were not org ...

Career

Amateur years

Martens started racing junior level events in 2000 showing no particular specialization finishing in the middle of the pack in the Niedersachsen Juniors and Cottbuser Juniors races. In 2001 he started to show some form finishing 3rd in Stage 1 of the

Trofeo Karlsberg The Saarland Trofeo, formerly the Trofeo Karlsberg, is a junior multi-day cycling race held annually in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the Nort ...

beating the chasing peloton by 2 seconds. Later in the year he finished 10th overall at the Münsterland Tour Juniors, a race he would win the senior version of later in his career. In 2002 he rode the

Jadranska Magistrala The Adriatic Highway () is a road that stretches along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is part of the European route E65. The road passes through Croatia, with smaller stretches through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro and end ...

finishing 56th overall with his best result coming in the stage 3 sprint where he finished 16th. In late May 2002 he rode the

Tour de Berlin The Tour de Berlin was a road bicycle race held annually between 1953 and 2016 in Germany. From 2007 to its demise, the race was organised as a 2.2U event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing com ...

where he finished 13th overall but was the first rider born in 1983 or later so he won the young rider classification. He started 2003 with a win in the

Rund um Sebnitz The Rund um Sebnitz is a one-day cycling race held annually in Sebnitz. It has been part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Interna ...

in Germany, and he also took a podium placing on Stage 1 of the Tour de Berlin. 2004 saw Martens finish second at the under-23

German National Time Trial Championships The German National Time Trial Championships have been held since 1994. Men U23 Women See also *German National Road Race Championships *National road cycling championships References {{National Road Race Championships National road ...

, and finished 13th in both the European and World under-23 time trials later in the season. Martens signed for amateur team KED Bianchi Team Berlin for the 2005 season, this gave him a calendar with more UCI races over the year. He started the year with a win at the Harzrundfahrt national event, followed by 5th in the Stage 1 sprint of Circuit des Ardennes and a win at the Under-23

. For the later part of the 2005 season he was a

stagiaire Stagiaire may refer to: *Stage (cooking) or stagiaire, a cook who works briefly, for free, in another chef's kitchen * Stagiaire (cycling), an amateur cyclist temporarily riding for a professional team * A particular type of trainee, see European ...

UCI ProTeam UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

Skil–Shimano (2006–2007)

In November 2005 announced they had signed Martens to their team on a two-year contract.

2006

Martens' professional career began in Qatar with the

International Grand Prix Doha The International Grand Prix Doha was a one day road cycling race held in Qatar. It was part of UCI Asia Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Interna ...

where he finished in second-to-last position, nearly 4' 30" down on the winner. Having acted as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their cycling team, team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équip ...

in his next starts in stage races, Martens moved onto the

Cobbled classics The cobbled classics are four cycling classics held in March and April. Cobblestones, like mountainous terrain, are important elements in courses of cycling. Many classic cycle races in northwestern Europe contain cobbled sections. The two Monumen ...

and

Ardennes classics The Ardennes classics are three cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian Ardennes and southern Limburg in the Netherlands: Liège–Bastogne–Liège, La Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race. First held in 1892, 1936 and 1966 respec ...

. Martens contested, for the only time in his career, the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

and

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

, finishing just the latter and at almost 20 minutes down in 99th position. He recorded two top-10 stage finishes at April's

Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt The International Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt was a stage race, multi-stage road bicycle racing, road bicycle race held in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. In the years from 1966 to 2007, it was considered one of the biggest sporting events in Rhine ...

, followed by a top 10 in Stage 4 of

Tour de Picardie The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

the following month. The

brought Martens' first professional win, winning Stage 3 ahead of eventual overall winner

Christian Vande Velde Christian Vande Velde (born May 22, 1976) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist of Belgian descent, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the , , and squads. He has been a cycling analyst for ...

. Martens' second professional win came at the

Münsterland Giro The Münsterland Giro is a cycling race annually held in Münsterland, Germany. It was first held in 2006 as a 1.2 race of the UCI Europe Tour, becoming a UCI race classifications, 1.1 race in 2007 and a 1.HC race in 2015. The race became part of ...

where he took the early breakaway and held the peloton off by two seconds.

2007

Martens started 2007 at the

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

where he finished 6th in the bunch sprint of stage 2 and ended 21st overall after the 5 stages. He failed to finish at

Omloop Het Volk , previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and holds significant pre ...

and the

Nokere Koerse Nokere Koerse is a European semi classic single day cycle race held in the Belgian region of Flanders. The Nokere Koerse was created in 1944, initially as the ''Grand Prix Jules Lowie'' in honour of 1938 Paris–Nice winner Jules Lowie who ...

, but finished third at the

Grand Prix Rudy Dhaenens Grand Prix Rudy Dhaenens was a professional road bicycle race held annually in Nevele (Belgium) to honor the former World Racing Champion Rudy Dhaenens. In 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circ ...

. The first top-10 result in a stage race came at the final edition of

where Martens finished 4th in Stage 3 and then 2nd in Stage 4 to finish 5th overall, 16 seconds down on the winner. At the

in June, Martens finished in the top-10 in 3 stages and ultimately finished 4th overall, 25 seconds down on the winner. Stage 3 of the

Ster Elektrotoer The ZLM Tour is a cycling race held over five stages, held in the southern Netherlands and Belgium as a 2.Pro race on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road bicycle racer, road cycling tour. It was inaugurate ...

was won by Martens from a reduced bunch sprint after a hilly battle on the

Cauberg The Cauberg is a hill in Valkenburg aan de Geul, a town in the South Limburg region of the Netherlands. The hill played an important role in the early development of tourism in Valkenburg. Today, several major tourist attractions are situated on ...

, which earned him the race leader's jersey; he lost the race lead to

Sebastian Langeveld Sebastian Langeveld (born 17 January 1985) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam where he is now a sports director. Career His biggest win to date was the 2011 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with where he ...

on the final day and finished second overall. In August he raced the

Rund um die Hainleite The Rund um die Hainleite is a classic cycling race in and around the German city of Erfurt, Germany. Since 2005, it has been part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were int ...

where he came third in another reduced bunch sprint. His last major result came at the

Eneco Tour The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the ori ...

where he finished 9th overall.

Rabobank (2008–2021)

In October 2007, Martens announced he would ride for

from 2008 on an initial two-year contract, saying his three professional wins in two years at Skil–Shimano were impressive.

2008–2009

In his first season with the team, Martens took top-ten overall finishes at the

(sixth), the

Regio-Tour The Regio-Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held between France, Switzerland and Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Famous riders like Laurent Brochard, Jan Ullrich, ...

(sixth) and the

Sachsen Tour The Sachsen Tour was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in the region of Saxony, Germany. It was first held in 1985 and wasorganised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour from 2005 until its final edition in 2009. Between 1985 and 1995 it was an ...

(eighth), and he finished in tenth at the

Coppa Sabatini The Coppa Sabatini is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Province of Pisa, Italy. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2020, it was added to the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is t ...

one-day race. The following year, he finished on the podium at the

GP Ouest-France The Bretagne Classic, also called Bretagne Classic Ouest-France, is an elite cycling classic held annually in late summer around the Breton village of Plouay in western France. The race was originally named Grand-Prix de Plouay and, from 1989 to ...

– held as part of the

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...

– where he finished third behind

Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans (born 16 May 1980) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018, for the , , , , and squads. Post-retirement he initially worked as an athlete intern at Goldman Sachs in L ...

and

Pierrick Fédrigo Pierrick Fédrigo (born 30 November 1978) is a French former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016 for the , , and teams. He was the winner of the French National Road Race Championships in 2005, and won four stages at ...

. He also recorded top-ten results at the

Eschborn–Frankfurt City Loop Eschborn–Frankfurt, previously Rund um den Henninger Turm Frankfurt, is an annual semi classic cycling race in Germany, starting in Eschborn and finishing in Frankfurt. The event, sometimes referred to as the Frankfurt Grand Prix, is held annua ...

(fifth), the

Giro del Piemonte The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Piedmont region, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. From 2005–2019, the race was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Eur ...

(sixth), and a repeat of his eighth-place overall finish from the previous year, at the Sachsen Tour.

2010s

He recorded his first victory with in 2010, winning the

Grand Prix de Wallonie The Grand Prix de Wallonie is an annual road bicycle race held annually in Wallonia, Belgium. From 2005 to 2019 it was organised as a category 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2021, it joined the UCI ProSeries, after being cancelled in 2020. ...

, ahead of

Riccardo Riccò Riccardo Riccò (born 1 September 1983) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who was suspended from all competition until 2024. He was previously ejected from the 2008 Tour de France for doping violations and suspended. Riccò returned ...

and

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

. He also recorded fourth-place finishes at Brabantse Pijl,

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

and the

Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli The Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli (also known as GP Beghelli) is a late season men's road bicycle race held annually in Monteveglio, near the city of Bologna, Italy. From 2005 to 2013, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

, while also finishing in the top-ten placings at the

Grote Prijs Jef Scherens Tour of Leuven - Memorial Jef Scherens (until 2021 ''Grote Prijs Jef Scherens'') is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Leuven, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race is ...

(sixth), and the

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

(eighth). In 2011, Martens recorded tenth-place finishes in two of the

– at the

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

and

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

. At the 2012 Vuelta a Burgos, Martens took a stage victory on the penultimate day of the race, winning on an uphill finish at

Clunia Clunia (full name ''Colonia Clunia Sulpicia'') was an ancient Roman city. Its remains are located on Alto de Castro, at more than 1000 metres above sea level, between the villages of Peñalba de Castro and Coruña del Conde, 2 km away f ...

. On his first race day of the 2013 season, Martens won the opening stage of the

into

Albufeira Albufeira (, ), officially the City of Albufeira (), is a List of cities in Portugal, city and Concelho, municipality of Faro District in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper ...

; he and

Tiago Machado Tiago José Pinto Machado (born 18 October 1985) is a Portuguese former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2022 for seven different teams. He took three victories during his career – the 2009 Portuguese ...

had gone clear of the field within the closing stages, and they managed to remain clear while teammate

Theo Bos Theo Bos (born 22 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional road and track cyclist. An Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion, he is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos. On 29 November 2021, he announced ...

led home the peloton in third place, a few metres behind. Later in the spring, he finished third in the

Volta Limburg Classic The Volta Limburg Classic is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in late March or early April in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, Netherlands. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Euro ...

in a sprint finish of a select group of riders. In June, Martens took his first overall stage race success, by winning the general classification at the

; he was third overall heading into final stage, but was able to overhaul

Jonathan Hivert Jonathan Hivert (born 23 March 1985) is a former French professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTeam . Career In 2013, Chambray-lès-Tours Hivert won the general classification of the 2.1 event Étoile de Bessèges. He was 3 s ...

and

Matthias Brändle Matthias Brändle (born 7 December 1989) is an Austrian professional road bicycle racer. Brändle is a seven-time winner of the Austrian National Time Trial Championships (2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021), and also won the Austrian ...

on the hilly finishing circuit in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

, and took the overall victory by four seconds ahead of Hivert. He later took top-ten overall finishes at the

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

(ninth) and the

Arctic Race of Norway The Arctic Race of Norway is an annual multiple stage bicycle race held in northern Norway. The first edition was in 2013, from 8 August to 11 August, and lasted for four days. The organising partners are Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Arct ...

(fifth). In June 2014, Martens won the final, hilly stage of the

in a sprint finish in

Oreye Oreye (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Oreye had a total population of 3,912. The total area is 19.64 km² which gives a population density Population density (in agricu ...

. He then finished second to

Mathieu van der Poel Mathieu van der Poel (born 19 January 1995) is a Belgian-born Dutch professional Cycle sport, cyclist who rides for the UCI WorldTeam . He competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, mountain biking, Gravel cycling, gravel and road bicyc ...

at the Ronde van Limburg, and fourth overall at the

Ster ZLM Toer The ZLM Tour is a cycling race held over five stages, held in the southern Netherlands and Belgium as a 2.Pro race on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road bicycle racer, road cycling tour. It was inaugurat ...

in his next two starts. Martens made his

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

début in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, but he took no further individual wins over the next few years, with his best result coming at the 2017 Volta Limburg Classic, where he finished in fifth place, behind the lead group.

2020–2021

In February 2020, Martens announced that he would retire from cycling at the end of the season; however, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Martens intended to prolong his career until the middle of the 2021 season. He retired following the

2021 Giro d'Italia The 2021 Giro d'Italia was the 104th edition of the Giro d'Italia, Giro, a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race. It started on 8 May and finished on 30 May. On 26 May 2019, the race organisers RCS Sport originally annou ...

, where he finished 99th.

Major results

Sources: ;2001 : 1st Madison (with Florian Piper), National Junior Track Championships : 10th Overall Münsterland Tour Juniors ;2002 : 1st Young rider classification,

;2003 : 1st

;2004 : 2nd

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Under-23 Road Championships ;2005 : 1st

, National Under-23 Road Championships : 1st Harzrundfahrt ;2006 : 1st

: 1st Stage 2

;2007 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 3rd

: 3rd

: 4th Overall

: 5th Overall

: 9th Overall

;2008 : 6th Overall

: 6th Overall

: 8th Overall

: 10th

;2009 : 3rd

: 5th

: 6th

: 8th Overall

;2010 : 1st

: 4th Brabantse Pijl : 4th

: 4th

: 6th

: 8th

;2011 : 10th

: 10th

;2012 : 1st Stage 4

;2013 : 1st Overall

: 1st Stage 1

: 3rd

: 5th Overall

: 9th Overall

;2014 : 1st Stage 5

: 2nd Ronde van Limburg : 4th Overall

;2015 : 10th Overall

Tour du Poitou-Charentes Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

;2017 : 5th

: 10th

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race also known as Great Ocean Road Race or Cadel Road Race is an annual professional one-day road bicycle racing for both men and women starting and finishing in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and routed along t ...

;2019 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

UAE Tour The UAE Tour () are road cycling stage races in the United Arab Emirates. A men's event was first held in 2019 as part of the UCI World Tour. It was created as a result of the merging of the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Dubai Tour. A women's event was ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martens, Paul 1983 births Living people German male cyclists Sportspeople from Rostock Sportspeople from Bezirk Rostock Cyclists from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 21st-century German sportsmen