Building on the 23rd-place finish in his Grand Tour debut this past July at the Tour de France, Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) added another trophy to his mantle on Wednesday, winning the second-and-final stage at the Giro della Toscana and seizing the overall lead from stage 1 winner Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data).
The 24-year-old Frenchman soloed away from his breakaway companions with a little more than 1km to go on the steep cobbled climb to the finish, and he quickly established his winning advantage over Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) and Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli). The two Italians rounded out the final podium, with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) in fourth at 14 seconds and Colombian Egan Bernal (Androni Giocattoli) in fifth at 16.
Martin now has three stage wins and two overal victories since mid-August, starting with his stage win at the Tour du Limousin and continuing with a stage win and final overall victory at the Tour du Gevaudan last week.
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"After my first victory in the Limousin, I made a click," Martin said. "When you start winning, you strive for victory again. It's a combination of the mental and physical aspect, because I've made enormous progress since the Tour de France.
"It is often said that you can push a gear extra, which is true, especially at my age. Then when the team takes me as a leader it gives more confidence. The whole team supports me and brings me in front at the foot of the climbs."
On Wednesday, Martin was part of the escape that formed on the final lap of the circuit around Volterra. When Visconti attacked with just over 3km to go, only Martin, Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo-Oscaro) and Cattaneo could follow. The lead quartet approached the base of the final climb with an advantage of 40 seconds over the main peloton, which featured Nibali, Bernal and Cummings.
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