[8] Martin was known as a time trial specialist, and is a four-time world champion in the discipline – having won the title in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 – which is joint-most with Fabian Cancellara.

Martin was also part of four world championship-winning team time trial squads, with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step/Etixx–Quick-Step, in 2012, 2013 and 2016, and with Germany in the mixed relay time-trial in 2021.

[34] In September, Martin won the gold medal in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[35] He then won the opening time trial of the inaugural Tour of Beijing,[36] and held the race lead for the rest of the event to claim overall victory.

[40] In April, Martin lost consciousness after colliding with a car during training[41] and sustained injuries, wrecking his early season.

[42][43] At the Tour de France, Martin's hopes of winning the prologue, were dashed by a mechanical problem that forced him to switch bikes on course.

Three days later, he successfully defended his individual world title, beating Taylor Phinney by five seconds and passing Alberto Contador on course.

He earned the leader's jersey on the fourth and last stage, a 34.8-kilometre (21.6-mile) individual time trial, which he won by over a minute from the next closest competitor, team-mate Michał Kwiatkowski.

[57] In the off season, Martin had surgery in Hamburg to resolve the scaphoid non-union resulting from his 2012 Tour de France stage 1 crash.

On 1 June, he claimed his third consecutive Tour of Belgium and set a new record in doing so,[59] surpassing 9 other riders who had managed to win the race two times.

Martin then won the two time trials of the Tour de Suisse, finishing fourth overall after limiting his losses in the mountains.

[67] At the Tour de France, Martin finished second behind Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) in the opening time trial in Utrecht.

[69] On 7 July, Martin won Stage 4 after a short escape 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) before the finish, taking the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.

He was riding on a bike borrowed from teammate Matteo Trentin, having had mechanical problems earlier in the race, which featured 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) of cobbles.

[70] On Stage 6, Martin crashed in the final kilometre on an uphill section while he was still in yellow and had to abandon the Tour because of a broken collarbone.

[82] In his first start with the team at the 2017 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Martin took victory on the second stage with a 6-kilometre (3.7-mile) solo move.

[92] After Martin failed to record any top-ten finishes during the 2020 season, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, he won the German National Time Trial Championships for its ninth consecutive edition in 2021,[93] as the 2020 running was not held.

[97] In September, Martin announced that he would retire following the UCI Road World Championships, as an after effect of his Tour de France crashes and additional safety concerns.