It was an expected win of world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in today's first time trial at this year's Tour de France but the German was heavily threatened by race leader Chris Froome (Sky). The Brit set the best time at both intermediate checks but ended up losing by just 12 seconds, opening up huge time gaps on GC in the process.

 

Often an early starter in grand tour time trials, world champion Tony Martin knows how the long wait in the hot seat feels but today his waiting time was probably a little more thrilling than usual. Having spent almost 4 hours as provisional leader without anyone getting really close to his time, he suddenly came under threat when yellow jersey Chris Froome rolled down the ramp.

 

At the first time check, the Brit was one second faster than Martin but most expected him to lose time on the second part of the course which was more suited to the powerful German. When Froome passed the second check with a lead of 2 seconds, it suddenly appeared as though the expected stage win could slip away from Martin.

 

In the end, the long, slightly descending straights in the final part proved a little bit too much for the Brit and when he crossed the line, he had been on the course 12 seconds longer than Martin. Thus the time trial champion could step onto the podium to celebrate his second ever Tour de France stage win.

 

While he may regret the lost stage win, Froome has plenty of reasons to be happy tonight. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was the second-best GC rider in 5th but the Pole had lost a massive 1.19. Next in line was a surprisingly strong Bauke Mollema (Belkin) who lost 1.53 to the Sky leader while the only other GC rider to finish inside two minutes of Froome was Andrew Talansky (Garmin) who was already 11.15 behind before the race had even started.

 

Prior to the race, Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) was expected to be Froome's biggest rival and while his 15th place was certainly satisfactory, his time loss of 2.03 was probably not. He is now 4th overall at 3.54 and faces a tremendous task if he wants to take back all that time. On a positive note for Saxo-Tinkoff, his teammate Roman Kreuziger performed splendidly and only lost 2.06 to Froome, thus moving into 5th on GC.

 

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was one of the day's big winner. He may have lost 2.00 to Froome but few would have predicted the Spaniard to finish 13th on such a flat course. He remains 2nd overall on GC, 3.25 behind Froome.

 

Cadel Evans (BMC) proved that he is still in this race with a solid ride but a time loss of 2.18 is still a bit too much for the rider who almost beat Martin in the final time trial of the 2011 Tour de France. His teammate Tejay Van Garderen tried to bounce back and set a very good time at the first check before fading completely in the final part of the course.

 

For the tiny climbers, it was all about limiting the losses today and some were more successful than others. While Valverde only lost 2.00, Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) had to give up another 3.17, Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 3.24 and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 3.16 while Andy Schleck (Radioshack) had a disastrous ride to finish 123rd, 4.33 behind Froome. On a more positive note, Laurens Ten Dam (Belkin) continued hi strong showing by finishing 22nd, only losing 2.20 to Froome.

 

Froome now takes his padded lead into tomorrow's long, flat 12th stage as the riders starts their journey from the North of France towards the Alps. The stage should be one for the sprinters but the wind could have something to say along the way.

 

Starting at 14.00, you can follow our live coverage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

 

Tuft sets the early best time

The 33km time trial to the rocky tidal island Mont-Saint-Michel was expected to be one for the true specialists and so it was no surprise that Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) who was the second rider down the ramp, was the finish to finish and set an early best time. Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) both got close at the intermediate checks but ended up being far behind the Canadian.

 

Tuft got a scare when Lars Boom (Belkin) crossed the first time check in the same time as him but the Dutchman faded in the second part of the course and so the Orica-GreenEdge rider stayed in the hot seat. Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) and Jeremy Roy (FDJ) both finished in 2nd but none of them was really close to Tuft.

 

Impressive ride by De Gendt

Everybody expected Martin to be the one to knock out of the hot seat but Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) had different plans. The Belgian started just in front of the world champion and had set a target of not getting caught by the German.

 

He not only reached that aim, he also took the best time in the process. Just moments later, Martin powered over the line in a time that was 1.01 faster than De Gendt's but the ride ended up being good enough for third on the day.

 

Good ride by Sagan

From then on no one got really close to Martin and specialists like David Millar (Garmin), Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) and Tom Dumoulin all finished a little behind, ending up 27th, 10th and 9th respectively. Green jersey Peter Sagan (Cannondale) had a surprisingly good ride to finish 17th, even claiming to Eurosport that he had not gone full gas.

 

Van Garderen was the first to get close to Martin as he passed the first check in 2nd but faded and ended up as 49th. Martin's teammate Sylvain Chavanel was only 7 seconds behind at the first check and he kept a solid pace all the way to the finish to take 7th - thus making it 3 Omega Pharma-Quick Step riders in the top 7 as Kwiatkowski finished 5th.

 

Porte is certainly not out

Richie Porte (Sky) had a good ride to prove that he still in this race and improved from a modest start to finish 4th. Moments later the GC riders started to roll down the ramp and among those Froome ended up being by far the strongest.

 

Result:

1. Tony Martin 36.29

2. Chris Froome +0.12

3. Thomas De Gendt +1.01

4. Richie Porte +1.21

5. Michal Kwiatkowski +1.31

6. Svein Tuft +1.35

7. Sylvain Chavanel +1.37

8. Jeremy Roy +1.43

9. Tom Dumoulin +1.45

10. Jonathan Castroviejo +1.52

 

General classification:

1. Chris Froome 42.29.24

2. Alejandro Valverde +3.25

3. Bauke Mollema +3.37

4. Alberto Contador +3.54

5. Roman Kreuziger +3.57

6. Laurens Ten Dam +4.10

7. Michal Kwiatkowski +4.44

8. Nairo Quintana +5.18

9. Rui Costa +5.37

10. Jean-Christophe Peraud +5.39

 

Points classification:

1. Peter Sagan 269

2. Andre Greipel 186

3. Mark Cavendish 166

4. Marcel Kittel 132

5. Alexander Kristoff 131

 

Mountains classification:

1. Pierre Rolland 49

2. Chris Froome 33

3. Richie Porte 28

4. Nairo Quintana 26

5. Mikel Nieve 21

 

Youth classification:

1. Michal Kwiatkowski 42.34.08

2. Nairo Quintana +0.34

3. Romain Bardet +6.53

4. Andrew Talansky +8.27

5. Thibaut Pinot +31.43

 

Teams classification:

1. Movistar 126.47.47

2. Team Saxo-Tinkoff  +4.34

3. Belkin +6.06

4. Ag2r +11.53

5. Radioshack +16.03