Tony Martin of Cottbus, Germany won the time trial at the 2011 UCI road cycling world championship in Copenhagen, Denmark earlier today, beating Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain and Fabian Cancellera of Switzerland.

Martin, a two-time bronze medalist in this event, finished the 28.8-mile flat circuit through Copenhagen in 53 minutes, 42.85 seconds, 75 seconds ahead of Wiggins. Cancellera, a four-time time trial champion, dropped to third after a strong start and was timed in 55:04.44.

A day earlier, Germany's Judith Arndt won the gold medal in the women's time trial. Australia leads the medals standings with two golds and two bronzes, followed by Germany with two golds and a silver.

Martin was so dominant he even passed Russia's Mikhai Ignatyev, who started three minutes earlier. The German averaged 32.2 mph, edging Cancellera's 2009 record of 32.1 mph.

Martin said that toward the end of the race he was sure he would win. "I had a good feeling," he said and added "Now a dream came true."

"The course was pretty flat," said Martin, "I normally would prefer a few climbs, but I was able to find a good rhythm and really push myself at every opportunity to accelerate."

"It was cloudy, looking like it could rain at any moment, but we were lucky the road stayed dry and I could hit the corners faster," Martin continued.

"I was able to catch up to David Millar (GB) which was motivating, but my morale going into the race today was quite high. I felt great from the start," Martin concluded.

Martin, who won an individual time trial at this year's Tour de France, had a lead of more than a minute after 21 miles, and it grew from there.

Cancellara had some trouble on one of the cobblestone sections by the Amalienborg Palace, home of the Danish royals, where he ran into the barriers on the second lap through the capital. A bystander gave him a shove back onto the course.

Cancellera won the time trial world championships in 2006, '07, '09 and 2010. He also won the gold at the 2008 Olympics.

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.

Off the course, the United States was selected to hold the 2015 road cycling worlds, the first time it will host the event since 1986.

Watch video highlights from the 2011 UCI road cycling world championships in our video section.