After a successful Paris-Roubaix, Bradley Wiggins has made the Tour of California the second big target of his season and yesterday he proved that he means serious business when he crushed the opposition in the time trial. The Brit didn't expect to take so much time though and will now rely on his team to bring him safely through the upcoming mountain stages.

Bradley Wiggins stormed into the race lead at the Tour of California after a resounding victory in the stage two time trial.

The Olympic champion powered across the 20.1-kilometre course around Folsom in a sensational time of 23 minutes and 18 seconds to win the stage by 44 seconds over nearest rival Rohan Dennis.

Averaging 51.5km/h on a sweltering day, Wiggins quickly got into a rhythm and sent a message to his rivals on the out-and-back course, catching two riders as he motored towards the finish.

The Brit now holds the yellow jersey with the same 44-second advantage over Dennis (Garmin-Sharp), with another pre-stage rival, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing), a further eight seconds back.

After the stage Wiggins told TeamSky.com: "I didn't plan to have taken as much time as that but it was a great course for me and I'd prepared well for it. I've been here for a few weeks now and now the real stuff starts tomorrow."

The fight for the general classification continues on Tuesday with the first summit finish of the race on Mount Diablo, a stage the team have ridden in training.

"We've checked tomorrow's stage out so we know it," he continued. "I'm in a good position and I'm climbing well. We're used to being in this position now as a team after the last few years so we know what to do. It's going to be quite a long week for the boys and it's going to get a lot hotter these next few days. But it's a great position to be in.

"It's going to be a tough day tomorrow. It's all on our team to do the best job that we can do to put me in position to be able to finish it off on the climb. I'm going to take it one day at a time."

"You can never underestimate anyone. We're all back to scratch now and we'll give it everything tomorrow. It's going to be really hot tomorrow and everyone is going to have to contend with that. We've had two tough days. Yesterday looked straight forward on paper but it turned out to be quite a tough day. It's tough for everyone but we just have to keep pushing on.

"I'm going to keep drinking. That's all you can do. We've been here for a couple of weeks, so we've gotten used to the heat now but it doesn't make it any easier because it's going to be a tough day tomorrow. There's only so much your body can take.

"I've said all year that Paris-Roubaix and heading into California were my goals. I've worked hard towards this and on a day like today it all clicks into place and comes together as a true test of where you're at. You set out with a plan and hope to be in that position, but for it all to happen and to follow the process it's nice when it all falls into place."