Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) continued this season's fantastic run of time trial success by crushing the opposition in the flat race against the clock at the Criterium du Dauphiné. Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) showed his huge talent by finishing 2nd ahead of Chris Froome (Sky) to take over the overall lead on a day where Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) finished a hugely disappointing 61st.

After a disappointing 2012 season, Tony Martin has shown all year that he is back to his best and today he further underlined that assessment by a dominant performance in the completely flat 32,5km race against the clock at the Criterium du Dauphiné. Clad in his rainbow jersey, he never let anyone have anyone have any doubt as to who would be the winner of the stage and far ahead of his rivals at each of the two intermediate time checks.

Prior to the stage, there had been some doubt over Martin's health as the German had struggled from stomach problems that had seen him lose more than 6 minutes in Monday's second stage. However, he had certainly recovered sufficiently in time for his big goal in the race and showed that his strength makes him able to win convincingly even when he is not at 100%.

Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) had taken over the role as Garmin-Sharp captain from an illness-struck Andrew Talansky and the Australian neo-professional showed that he deserves the honour. Long known as a talented time triallist, he had struggled significantly in the early part of his first season in the professional ranks, but today he proved that he has overcome those challenges.

By finishing 2nd on the day, 47 seconds behind Martin, he not only beat Tour de France favourite Chris Froome by 5 seconds, he also rode himself into yellow and white as the previous leader of the race, David Vellieux (Europcar) was only able to finish 76th on the day. In what is certainly his big breakthrough performance, he gauged his effort perfectly and kept his pace all the way to the line.

The big winner among the pre-race favourites is of course Froome who once again proved that he is one of the best time triallist in the world. With only Dennis ahead of him and 21 seconds to 3rd placed Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) who finished 5th on the day, he enters the mountains in an optimal position.

That cannot be said of his expected Tour rival, Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff). The Spaniard has not found back to his former strength in the time trials, and that has never been more evident than today. On his way to a disappointing 61st place, he was passed by Richie Porte (Sky) - who had started 2 minutes behind - and lost 2.45 to the man whom he wants to beat next month.

Contador was, however, not the only one to suffer today. His compatriots Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) finished 45th, 53rd and 70th respectively, and all have more than 2 minutes to make up on Froome in the mountains if they want to win this year's Criterium du Dauphiné. In similar fashion, Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) had without any doubt hoped for more than a modest 53rd place, 3.30 behind Martin.

On the other hand, a number of climbers performed way better than expected. Leopold König (NetApp-Endura) finished 12th, Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) was 15th and Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 17th on a course that did not do them any favour at all. The three riders have set themselves well up for a high overall finish in one of the most prestigious races in the world.

Sky once again showed their time trialling prowess by placing no less than 4 riders in the top 10. Besides Froome's 3rd place, Edvald Boasson Hagen was 6th, Richie Porte 7th and Geraint Thomas 10th. While Boasson Hagen and Thomas will now settle into a domestique role, Froome and Porte could very well end up with a 1-2 finish for Team Sky in this year's race.

The early best time was set by Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) but he was quickly surpassed by Eloy Teruel (Movistar) and moments later by Jan Barta (NetApp-Endura). The Czech stayed in the hot seat for around half an hour until Jonathan Castroviejo raised the bar even further. His lead was a short one as Martin blast across the line 15 minutes later to make it clear to everybody that he had no intentions of giving away his time trial crown.

Martin's teammate Kwiatkowski was his nearest challenger at the first intermediate check but while the Pole faded, Dennis upped the pace in the second part. At the second intermediate check, Dennis and Froome were ahead of Kwiatkowski and they kept their positions all the way to the finish line.

Dennis faces a tough ask tomorrow when will try to defend his lead in the first summit finish of the race at the top of the HC climb to Valmorel. Starting at 12.45, you can follow the drama on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

Result:

1. Tony Martin 41.47

2. Rohan Dennis +0.47

3. Chris Froome +0.52

4. Jonathan Castroviejo +1.08

5. Michal Kwiatkowski +1.13

6. Edvald Boasson Hagen +1.19

7. Richie Porte +1.20

8. Jan Barta +1.36

9. Marco Pinotti +1.38

10. Geraint Thomas +1.42

General classification:

1. Rohan Dennis 12.40.00

2. Chris Froome +0.05

3. Michal Kwiatkowski +0.26

4. Edvald Boasson Hagen +0.32

5. Richie Porte +0.33

6. Geraint Thomas +0.55

7. David Veilleux +1.08

8. Leopold König +1.11

9. Stef Clement +1.14

10. Andriy Grivko +1.26

Points classification:

1. Gianni Meersman 34

2. Elia Viviani 21

3. David Veilleux 20

4. Edvald Boasson Hagen 20

5. Chris Froome 16

Mountains classification:

1. Thomas Damuseau 55

2. David Veilleux 40

3. Ricardo Garcia 28

4. Jean-Marc Bideau 24

5. Rudy Molard 15

Young riders' classification:

1. Rohan Dennis 12.40.00

2. Michal Kwiatkowski +0.26

3. Tony Gallopin +1.49

4. Alexandre Geniez +2.05

5. Dominik Nerz +2.13

Teams classification:

1. Sky Procycling 38.01.10

2. Omega Pharma-Quick Step +0.09

3. Movistar Team +3.26

4. Astana Pro Team +3.53

5. Radioshack-Leopard +4.31