Stage 11 of the 2013 Tour de France is a race against the clock. Will the 33km individual time trial see Chris Froome tighten his grip on the GC, or will it see the emergence of a challenger? Either way, it will be a stage not to be missed. Join us from 10.00pm.
The route from Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel has a few minor ups and downs early on, but from the halfway mark it is a gradual downhill run to the finish.
Wind, not gradient, will be the biggest factor in determining the speed of the stage.
Chris Froome blew the other General Classification hopefuls away at the Criterium du Dauphine time trial and, with faultless form so far at this Tour, it doesn’t auger well for his opponents this time around.
Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) will be hoping to not lose too much time to Froome.
Contador is no slouch when it comes to the race of truth, but his recent form against Froome in this discipline is not great, and he is not the rider he once was.
World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) would normally go in as favourite on a stage like this, but there must still be question marks over his condition after his nasty crash on stage one.
From an Australian perspective, Cadel Evans (BMC) is looking to recapture his time trial form.
The former Tour winner is desperate to move up the leader board and while his heart will be in it, his legs might not be.
Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) is one of Australia’s best time triallers and could sneak into the top ten as could former three-time world time trial champ Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff).
Richie Porte (Sky) is probably the best of the Aussie time triallers at the moment, but he may be under orders to hold back so as he can better help Froome when the race hits the mountains again later in the week.
Join me from 10.00pm AEST for live coverage of the stage.
Kathy
Guest
Great work Sean!
Sean Lee
Expert
Thanks for joining me tonight. I'll be back again tomorrow from 10pm as we head back to the roads. Goodnight.
Sean Lee
Expert
The new top five on general classification will be - 1. Chris Froome (GBR) SKY 2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) MOV at 3'25" 3. Bauke Mollema (NED) BEL at 3'37" 4. Alberto Contador (ESP) TST at 3'54" 5. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) TST at 3'57" It is Chris Froome and then daylight!
Sean Lee
Expert
Gutsy ride by Tony Martin who has just said that after he crashed on stage one it was taking him an hour to change his bandages.
Sean Lee
Expert
Today's top ten - 1.MARTIN T. OPQin 36' 29'' 2.FROOME C. SKYin 36' 41'' at 0' 12'' 3.DE GENDT T. VCDin 37' 30'' at 1' 01'' 4.PORTE R. SKYin 37' 50'' at 1' 21'' 5.KWIATKOWSKI M. OPQin 38' 00'' at 1' 31'' 6.TUFT S. OGEin 38' 04'' at 1' 35'' 7.CHAVANEL S. OPQin 38' 06'' at 1' 37'' 8.ROY J. FDJin 38' 12'' at 1' 43'' 9.DUMOULIN T. ARGin 38' 14'' at 1' 45'' 10.CASTROVIEJ... J. MOVin 38' 21'' at 1' 52''
Sean Lee
Expert
Froome has lost time in the last third of the race and finishes 2nd best today, 11 seconds behind Tony Martin who wins today's stage. Big time gains over his GC rivals though!
Sean Lee
Expert
Alejandro Vaverde was 1:25 down on Froome on GC before today. He will lose more time today. He crosses the line in 12th best time, 2:11 down. But here comes Froome already!
Sean Lee
Expert
Mollema pushes Talansky out of the top ten. 10th spot for Mollema @ 2:04. Only two riders left now - Valverde and Froome.
Sean Lee
Expert
Ten Dam is 19th best on the line. 2:31 behind.
Sean Lee
Expert
Thank Deezle. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of and I've been having some computer problems tonight so appreciate your feed back. Thanks for following.
Sean Lee
Expert
Kreuziger 13th best at 2:18.
Sean Lee
Expert
Chris Froome as crossed the second time check in 1st place - just 2 seconds faster than Tony Martin. The other GC boys aren't even getting close to this. Froome will stretch his lead considerably.
Sean Lee
Expert
Contador has finished in 12th, losing 2:15 seconds. Hi time was 38:44
Sean Lee
Expert
Quintana has just lost his white jersey, finishing in 48th position, 3:27 down. Kwiatkowski is back in the white jersey.
Sean Lee
Expert
Mollema (Bel), currently 3rd on GC, has gone through the second checkpoint in 11th place - 1:23 down.
Sean Lee
Expert
Ten Dam (Bel) 20th through the second check point, Kreuziger (TST) was 14th.
Sean Lee
Expert
Rodriguez (KAT) is good enough for only 49th place at the finish.
Sean Lee
Expert
For your information - the top 20 on GC before this stage - 1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 41:52:43 2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:25 3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:44 4 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:50 5 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:01:51 6 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 7 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:02 8 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 0:02:28 9 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha 0:02:31 10 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:02:45 11 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:02:55 12 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:07 13 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:03:25 14 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:29 15 Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard 0:04:00 16 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:04:36 17 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:06:14 18 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha 0:06:16 19 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:06:40 20 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:09
Sean Lee
Expert
Valverde is 8th fastest through the first checkpoint - quicker than Contador by 1 second. Contador is 11th best at the second checkpoint. BUT CHRIS FROOME IS NOW THE FASTEST BY ONE SECOND THOUGH THE FRST CHECKPOINT!
Sean Lee
Expert
Rodriguez was only 46th best at the second checkpoint. He won't be making up anytime on anyone today!