Wiggins destroys opposition in Besancon TT

Bradley Wiggins destroyed the opposition to win his first Tour de France stage in the 41.5km individual time trial from Arc-et-Senans to Besancon this afternoon.

The Team Sky rider beat team-mate Chris Froome by 35 seconds, while early pace setter Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) had to settle for third.

Crucially though for Wiggins, he finished an impressive 1-43 ahead of defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) 2-07 in arrears.

Going into tomorrow's first rest day, two British riders sit first and third on GC, a remarkable feat and one reminiscent of last year's Vuelta.

Evans is now 1-53 behind Wiggins, with Froome just 14 seconds behind the Australian.

Great Britons

It initially appeared that Cancellara's time of 52-21 for the undulating course would be enough for him to notch up his ninth Tour stage victory.

Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing) looked like he was going to knock the Swiss rider off top spot. However, after a fast start, Van Garderen finished nine seconds off the provisional fastest time.

By then, Froome was underway and going even faster and, having set the fastest time at both checkpoints along the course, he duly set the fastest time.

With only five riders left to finish after Froome, it seemed likely that only Wiggins could beat that time. And that was exactly what he did; five seconds faster at the 16.5km mark, he was 16 seconds quicker at the 31.5km check. Come the finish, Wiggins had put an impressive 35 seconds into his team-mate.

Froome's ride was still good enough to see him leapfrog Haimar Zubeldia, Denis Menchov and Vincenzo Nibali on GC.

Aditionally, only four riders are within three minutes of Wiggins on the standings, and seven sit under five minutes.

"Everyone was tired last night, and you don't know how you were going to recover, but that's what I'm good at," Wiggins said afterwards. "I felt good today, as soon as I did my first pedal stroke I knew I was on a good one.

"I didn't set out for the stage win, to get that is a bonus."

Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) now lies 8-19 off Wiggins in 17th place, with former Giro winners Ivan Basso and Michele Scarponi 9-06 and 10-27 behind respectively.

Results

Tour de France 2012, stage nine: Arc-et-Senans to Besancon, 41.5km

1. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky in 51-24

2. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky at 35 secs

3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan at 57 secs

4. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 1-06

5. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 1-24

6. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 1-43

7. Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 1-59

8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2-07

9. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha at 2-08

10. Andreas Kloden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan at 2-09

Other

12. Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 2-16

23. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2r La Mondiale at 3-08

36. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp at 4-14

39. Steve Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing at 4-23

44. Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan at 4-32

51. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp at 4-46

161. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky at 8-43

Overall classification after stage nine

1. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky in 39-09-20

2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 1-53

3. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky at 2-07

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2-23

5. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha at 3-02

6. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan at 3-19

7. Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan at 4-23

8. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 5-14

9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto-Belisol at 5-20

10. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2r La Mondiale at 5-29

Fabian Cancellara

Chris Froome on his way to second

Bradley Wiggins

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Tour de France 2012 provisional start list

Tour de France 2012 team list

Tour de France 2012: Stage reports

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Stage seven: Wiggins takes yellow as Froome wins stage

Stage six: Sagan wins third Tour stage

Stage five: Greipel wins again as Cavendish fades

Stage four: Greipel wins stage after Cavendish crashes

Stage three: Sagan runs away with it in Boulogne

Stage two: Cavendish takes 21st Tour stage victory

Stage one: Sagan wins at first attempt

Prologue: Cancellara wins, Wiggins second

Tour de France 2012: Comment, analysis, blogs

Analysis: What we learned at La Planche des Belles Filles

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CW's Tour de France podcasts

Blog: Tour presentation - chasing dreams and autographs

Comment: Cavendish the climber

Tour de France 2012: Photo galleries

Stage eight by Graham Watson

Stage seven by Graham Watson

Stage six by Graham Watson

Stage five by Graham Watson

Stage four by Graham Watson

Stage three by Graham Watson

Stage two by Andy Jones

Stage two by Graham Watson

Stage one by Graham Watson

Prologue photo gallery by Andy Jones

Prologue photo gallery by Roo Rowler

Prologue photo gallery by Graham Watson

Tour de France 2012: Team presentation

Sky and Rabobank Tour de France recce

Tour de France 2012: Live text coverage

Stage six live coverage

Stage five live coverage

Stage four live coverage

Stage three live coverage

Cycling Weekly's live text coverage schedule

Tour de France 2012: TV schedule

ITV4 live schedule

British Eurosport live schedule

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