Tis indeed a slap in the face of Greipel. He probably had the 2nd most wins of anyone this season (after Cav i think) and took the points jersey in the Vuelta and 4 stages. Pretty impressive stuff.
Martin had a nice Tour of Switzerland (3rd overall + a stage as I recall), a very impressive bronze at the Worlds TT and came close to winning the Tour stage to the Ventoux. Martin certainly had a very nice season, especially for a guy who a year earlier had only a few TT wins in minor stage races, and showed great promise for the future. But Greipel had the wins all year round (and could've won more if not for Cav) and should've taken the award IMO, let alone finish 7th. Shows the general public really only pays close attention to the Tour.