Cycling: Bradley Wiggins takes silver in road world championships

Wiggins: 'It would be crazy to not do the Tour' (GETTY IMAGES)

Tony Martin gave Germany their second gold medal at the road world championships when he won the time trial in impressive fashion today.

One day after compatriot Judith Arndt claimed the title in the women's time trial, Martin clocked a best time of 53 minutes 43.85 seconds over the 46.4-km course, beating Briton Bradley Wiggins by 1:15.83 and four-times champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland by 1:20.59.

Having won time trials in the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain this season, the 26-year-old German set a best time at every time check to improve on his 2009 and 2010 performances when he had to settle for bronze medals.

Cancellara had looked set for silver but the Swiss, who also won the time trial gold medal at the 2008 Olympics, gradually faded away and lost considerable ground near the finish when he went off against the safety barrier.

Wiggins, a three-times pursuit Olympic champion, made a cautious start before sneaking time off fourth-placed German Bert Grabsch to secure his first podium finish at a road world championships.