For the fourth time this year, Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) finished 2nd in a time trial when he was beaten by Bradley Wiggins in yesterday's Tour of California stage. Having been a massive 44 seconds behind the Brit on the short 20.1km course, however, the Australian was gracious in defeat and described his rival as one of the best there has ever been.

Garmin-Sharp entered the Tour of California with what seemed to be the strongest team, ready to take on the main favourite, Bradley Wiggins. With Rohan Dennis, the team had a rider that could try to beat the Brit in the time trial while Tom Danielson and Janier Acevedo could attack him in the mountains.

Yesterday Dennis proved that he is up for the challenge of performing well in the Californian race, finishing 2nd in the time trial and even beating a specialist like Taylor Phinney. The runner-up spot continues a trend that has seen the young Australian finish second in no less than four out of his five time trials this season.

Despite his impressive performance, Dennis was not even close to Wiggins though. On the short 20.1km course, the Brit put a massive 44 seconds into his Australian rival, crushing the opposition and effectively sealing the overall win in the race.

Dennis was gracious in defeat as he knew that he was up against the cream of the crop.

“It was pretty warm out there. It wasn’t as windy as it was yesterday. I’m pretty happy with how it went,” Dennis told Velonews. “I was right on, with my power, in the first half. It dipped a little in the second half, but that’s how things work. ‘Wiggo’ is the one to beat. He’s one of the best there has ever been, and unless he has a problem midway through the race, that’s out of his control, he’s going to be tough to beat.”

While Dennis is now second overall and has a podium spot within reach, things look more complicated for Danielson and Acevedo. The latter finished 54th, losing 2.39, while the former was only slightly better in 42nd, 18 seconds faster than his Colombian teammate.