Bradley Wiggins (Sky) lived up to expectations in the Tour of Britain time trial as the Brit crushed the opposition to win the short 8.8km stage with a big margin. Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) and Stephen Cummings (BMC) completed the podium while Dylan van Baarle (Garmin-Sharp) performed strongly to defend his overall lead.

Bradley Wiggins went into the Tour of Britain time trial as the overwhelming favourite and the defending champion left no one questioning his superiority on the 8.8km course in London. The Brit covered the distance in a time of 9.50 to go 8 seconds faster than Sylvain Chavanel and 9 seconds faster than Stephen Cummings respectively.

It wasn’t enough for the Brit to defend his overall win though as both Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Dylan van Baarle held off the challenge by the Brit. While the Pole finished 6th, the Dutchman rode strongly to 11th, meaning that he defended his overall lead with a 10-second margion over Kwiatkowski.

After yesterday’s dramatic stage in the hills, the Tour of Britain finished with two stages in London. Before the race ended with a sprint stage in the capital, the riders tackled a completely flat, non-technical 8.8km time trial along the Thames.

The first rider down the ramp was Christopher Lawless (Great Britain) who set an early mark of 11.17. However, he was quickly beaten into second by Christopher Latham (Great Britain) who became the first rider to go under 11 minutes with a time of 10.53.

The young Brit led the stage for a few minutes before Bert De Backer (Giant-Shimano) went two seconds faster but the Dutchman didn’t enjoy his time in the hot seat for long. Moments later, Ian Bibby (Madison) stopped the clock in 10.43 to become the virtual leader of the stage.

Daniel McLay (Great Britain) slotted into third but had barely finished his ride before Ryan Mullen (An Post) powered across the line to stop the clock in 10.10, taking a very comfortable lead. The Irishman had been on a good ride as neither Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff-Saxo) with 10.16 or Lasse Norman (Garmin-Sharp) with 10.18 could match his time.

Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) warmed up for the expected sprint in the afternoon by slotting into fourth with a  time of 10.18 before Thomas Scully (Madison) and Nikolay Trusov (Tinkoff-Saxo) both made it into the top 6. Rick Flens (Belkin) was the next rider to crack the top 5, stopping the clock in a time of 10.27.

For a long time, no one was able to challenge the top times before Martin Kohler (BMC) powered across the line in 10.15 to move into second behind surprise leader Mullen. However, the focus was on his teammate Stephen Cummings (BMC) who had set the fastest split time, and with a time of 9.59 he became the first rider to go below the 10-minute mark.

Peter Velits (BMC), Thomas Dekker (Garmin) and Albert Timmer (Giant-Shimano) all had decent rides with times around 10.20 before Mark Cavendish (OPQS) prepared for the afternoon bunch sprint by posting the exact same time as Kittel, 10.18. Heinrich Haussler (IAM) was just 4 seconds slower with a time of 10.22.

Double stage winner Matthias Brändle (IAM) confirmed his excellent condition by stopping the clock in 10.05 to move into second while Leopold König (NetApp) had a decent ride with a time of 10.20. Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) posted the exact same time as the GC battle had now started.

Christopher Juul (Tinkoff) confirmed his great condition by posting a time of 10.14 to slot into the top 10 but all eyes were on Czech specialist Jan Barta (NetApp). However, his time of 10.04 was 5 seconds slower than Cummings’ and only good enough for 2nd.

One minute later, in-form Sylvain Chavanel blasted across the line in a time of 9.58, going 1 second faster than Cummings and moving into the hot seat. Alex Dowsett (Movistar), a past winner of this stage, had a poor ride and could only manage 6th.

Big favourite Bradley Wiggins (Sky) was now on the course and the Brit was 2 seconds faster than Chavanel at the halfway point. From there, he dropped the hammer and when he stopped the clock in 9.50, he had taken a comfortable lead.

Ion Izagirre (Movistar) could only manage 10.16 while BMC stagiaire Dylan Teuns (BMC) suffered with a time of 10.49. Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff) and Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani) both had decent rides with time of 10.22 and 10.27 respectively.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) stopped the clock in 10.06 which was could enough for 6th, meaning that Dylan van Baarle (Garmin-Sharp) had to go faster than 10.25 to defend his lead. As he crossed the line in 10.15, he retained his jersey with a comfortable 10-second margin.

Barring disaster, van Baarle will win the race overall as the final stage is a completely flat 88.8km circuit race in London. Kittel and Cavendish are expected to battle it out for the stage win while van Baarle will just try to stay safe on the non-technical course.