Guy Martin announces he will not compete at this year's Isle of Man TT or North West 200 due to Tour Divide

Martin will compete in the gruelling Tour Divide which clashes with both the North West and the Isle of Man TT

Guy Martin will not race at the Isle of Man TT in 2016 (Getty Images)

Guy Martin has confirmed that he will not compete at this year’s Isle of Man TT as he will instead seek success in the Tour Divide cycling event.

Martin suffered a serious accident at last year’s Ulster Grand Prix when leading, and was left in hospital with multiple injuries, having sustained five broken vertebrae, five broken ribs, two broken metacarpals in his right hand that required a plate to be inserted and a broken sternum that needed a metal rod inserted in his spine.

Martin also knocked himself unconscious in the accident, and admitted afterwards that the 130mph crash got him thinking about his future in the sport, although he maintained that he still wanted to race bikes but was considering other options available to him.

One of those is the Tour Divide, an annual ultra-distance mountain bike race that runs the length of the Rocky Mountains from Canada, through the United States and down to the Mexican border, and Martin has confirmed that he will compete in the 2016 Tour which clashes with this year’s TT at the end of May and beginning of June.

“Plenty of folk have been asking what I’m up to this year,” Martin wrote in a post on his Facebook account.

“I fancy a change of scenery. I've been racing the TT for 11 years. All I’ve really done since I was 18, except the trucks, is race motorbikes and my brain needs something else. Every year’s the same: testing, racing, then start again. It brought it home to me when I was lying in hospital after the Ulster Grand Prix crash. I’ve been on about the Tour Divide, the toughest pushbike race in the world, for three years and I thought I’ll blink and next thing I’ll be 45, so I’m going to do it this year. I like breaking myself mentally and the Tour Divide will be tough, but it’s same time at TT, so that’s forced me to make a choice."

Guy Martin is yet to win at the Isle of Man TT, having finished on the podium 15 times (Getty Images)

As well as missing the TT, Martin will not compete in the North West 200 in May. The 34-year-old Lincolnshire rider criticised the North West circuit last year, saying he was "bored to the back teeth of riding through chicanes", and despite later apologising to race director Mervyn White many regarded his comments as a parting shot at the Northern Ireland track.

Martin has stressed though that he plans to return to road racing in the future, and cited both 43-year-old John McGuinness and 46-year-old Bruce Anstey - both race winners at last year's TT - as reasons why he still has plenty of time to make a return.

“I'm not done with motorbikes," Martin continued. "I’m attempting the Wall of Death record in the spring and having a go at the land speed record in the summer and if I do race on the roads it will be with TAS.

“After the Tour Divide I might never want to see a pushbike again - or never want to go road racing again, I don’t know. But I do know Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness are still racing the TT, and they’ve got a few years on me, so maybe I’ll come back next year. Or maybe I’ll find something else interesting to do. I’ve got more interests than just motorbikes and I just think let's bloody have ‘em."

It will mean that Martin will miss the full TT fortnight for the first time since making his debut in 2004.