Chris Froome (Sky) took the expected win in today's second time trial of the Tour de France but the battle much closer that most would have predicted. Having been beaten by Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) at all time checks, he made a strong finish to beat his Spanish rival by just 9 seconds while Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) finished 1 second further adrift.

Chris Froome was the big favourite to take the win in today's very hilly 32km time trial from Embrun to Chorges but the win was certainly no easy one for him to bag. Alberto Contador proved that he is very much still in the race as the Spaniard finished only 9 seconds behind his British rival after having been ahead at all three time checks.

Contador was 2 seconds faster than Froome at the top of the first climb but the Brit was unable to keep up with his rival on the very technical descent. At the bottom, he was 20 seconds behind the Spaniard and had some ground to make up.

He did just that on the final climb as he crested the top in a time that was only 11 seconds slower than Contador's. At that point he had even taken himself the time to change from a road bike to a time trial bike while Contador had decided to stay on his road bike all the way to the finish.

That decision is likely to have been a costly one as the final descent was not very technical and one for the big gears. However, Contador got some hope when rain started to fall and Froome had to take the corners visibly more careful than his British rival.

When Froome crossed the line, he had, however, taken another 20 seconds out of Contador, and so he was 9 seconds faster the Spaniard. That was enough to give him his 3rd stage win on the eve of the highly anticipated Alpe d'Huez stage.

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) has long given signs that he is on the rise, and today he further underlined that tendency. Known for his distaste of time trials, he finished 3rd, just 10 seconds behind Froome on a hilly course that suited him perfectly.

Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) made it a good day for the Saxo-Tinkoff team as he finished 4th. As Belkin had a terrible day with Mollema finishing 11th and Ten Dam 16th that was enough to move Contador into 2nd and Kreuziger into 3rd on GC while Mollema drops to 4th.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) may have fallen out of GC contention but his condition is still very much at its peak. He finished 5th while his teammate Nairo Quintana proved that he is a serious podium contender by finishing 6th.

Michael Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) had hoped to take time on Quintana in their internal battle for the white jersey but as he only managed 7th that never happened. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) solidified his top 10 quest by finishing 8th while Andrew Talansky (Garmin) - known as a time trial specialist - was 9th.

Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) was the big loser on an extremely unlucky day. The Frenchman came down during his recon ride and suffered a crack in his collarbone. He still decided to start the stage and limited his losses beautifully as he was 21st on the top of the second climb.

However, he crashed again on the descent and this time he was no motivation to continue. He abandoned the race and so France lost all dreams of putting a rider into the top 10 on GC.

Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and Andy Schleck (Radioshack) proved that they are still in the race as they finished 10th and 15th on the stage. On the other hand, Cadel Evans (BMC) appeared to have completely given up when he rolled across the line in 167th place from 177 finishers of the stage.

Froome now takes his padded lead into the most anticipated stage of the entire race as the riders will have to climb the Alpe d'Huez twice tomorrow. Starting at 12.15, you can follow that stage in its entirety on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

Hivert sets early best time

On a course that consisted of two climbs and their subsequent descents with no flat roads in between, it was expected that climber Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) who was an early starter, would set the best time. He did so but he cot a surprising challenger a couple of minutes later.

Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) showed that he is still going strong this late in the race and moved himself into the hot seat but not for long. Veteran Stuart O'Grady (Orica-GreenEdge) knocked 26 seconds off his time and was now the provisional leader of the stage.

Westra on fire

He enjoyed that position for some time until Dutch champion Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) hit the course. Despite riding a time trial bike on the entire course, he showed impressive strength and was a massive 1.20 faster than O'Grady at the finish.

Alessandrro De Marchi (Cannondale) got close but his time was only good enough for 2nd. World champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) did not like the hilly course and was only 6th when he crossed the line.

De Gendt slows down

Westra's teammate Thomas De Gendt was on fire and was clearly the fastest at the first two time checks. However, he lost ground in the final part and was only 3rd when he crossed the finish line. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) has had a difficult Tour so far but showed himself beautifully by getting into the provisional 2nd.

The man to knock Westra out of the hot seat was Ion Izagirre (Euskaltel) who improved the mark by 4 seconds. He enjoyed some time as the provisional leader until Van Garderen crossed the line in a time that was 34 seconds faster than the Basque.

Rain starts to fall

Rain now started to fall and Van Garderen now sensed that he could take a surprise win. However, it was only a shower and when the later starters rolled down the ramp, the roads were mostly dry.

Schleck rode solidly on the climbs but was one of the riders to be disadvantaged by the rain. Instead, it was Valverde who showed his splendid condition by posting the best times at all checks to beat Van Garderen by more than a minute.

Rodriguez has a good ride

When he crossed the line, he did, however, know that Rodriguez had beaten him at all checks and as the Katusha leader crossed the line, he had been 20 seconds faster than Valverde. His lead was under immediate threat though as Contador had beaten him at all checks.

The Spaniard crossed the line in a time that was 0,72 seconds faster than his compatriot's and as he had also been faster than Froome at all checks, he hoped to take the win. However, Froome overcame the rain that had now started to fall and beat Contador by 9 seconds, thus taking his third stage win.

Result:

1 Chris Froome - Sky 51.33
2 Alberto Contador - Saxo-Tinkoff 0.09
3 Joaquim Rodriguez - Katusha 0.10
4 Roman Kreuziger - Saxo-Tinkoff 0.23
5 Alejandro Valverde - Movistar 0.30
6 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas - Movistar Team 1.11
7 Michal Kwiatkowski - Omega Pharma-QuickStep 1.33
8 Jakob Fuglsang - Astana 1.34
9 Andrew Talansky - Garmin-Sharp 1.41
10 Tejay van Garderen - BMC 1.51

General classification:

1 Christopher Froome - Sky Procycling 66.07.09
2 Alberto Contador Velasco - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 4.34
3 Roman Kreuziger - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 4.51
4 Bauke Mollema - Belkin Pro Cycling Team 6.25
5 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas - Movistar Team 6.58
6 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver - Katusha 7.21
7 Laurens Ten Dam - Belkin Pro Cycling Team 8.23
8 Jakob Fuglsang - Astana Pro Team 8.56
9 Michal Kwiatkowski - Omega Pharma-Quick Step 11.10
10 Daniel Martin - Garmin-Sharp 12.50

Points classification:

1. Peter Sagan 377

2. Mark Cavendish 278

3. Andre Greipel 223

4. Marcel Kittel 177

5. Alexander Kristoff 157

Mountains classification:

1. Chris Froome 88

2. Nairo Quintana 69

3. Mikel Nieve 53

4. Pierre Rolland 51

5. Joaquin Rodriguez 35

Youth classification:

1. Nairo Quintana 66.14.07

2. Michal Kwiatkowski +4.12

3. Andrew Talansky +8.15

4. Romain Bardet +21.45

5. Arthur Vichot +58.11

Teams classification:

1. Team Saxo-Tinkoff  197.41.19

2. Radioshack +1.22

3. Ag2r +8.14

4. Movistar +12.48

5. Belkin +22.33