Nicolas Roche posts better than expected Tour TT, though Dan Martin falters a little

Dan Martin lost more time that he would have expected at today's time trial on the Tour de France. He has slipped from 8th overall to 13th, but with plenty of climbing to come he will have lots of opportunity to move back up the standings.

By Gavin McLoughlin

It was a day of contrasting fortunes for Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin on stage 11 of the Tour de France today, Wednesday, with Roche performing better than expected and Martin faltering a little, though not terminally.

Saxo-Tinkoff super-domestique Roche completed the flattish 33 kilometre individual time-trial from Avranches to Mont Saint-Michel in a time of 39:04.

This was good enough for a creditable 28th place on the day, with the Irishman arriving 2:35 behind stage winner Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

In the past, time-trialling has proved to be Roche’s weakness, but a strong performance today points to encouraging improvement on his part.

You might have expected the Irishman to soft-pedal around today’s route in anticipation of the difficult mountain-stages that lie ahead of Saxo-Tinkoff leader Alberto Contador, but instead Roche pushed himself to the limit, baring his teeth in exertion as he hurtled towards the finish line.

The result will buoy Roche’s confidence ahead of the Vuelta a Espana next month, with the Irishman expected to lead Saxo-Tinkoff’s general classification hopes at that event.

Stage 9 victor, Dan Martin finished the course in a time of 40:05, which put him 62nd on the day, 3:36 behind the winner.

On paper, the parcours never seemed to suit the Garmin-Sharp leader’s characteristics, and he drops to 13th on general classification at 5:52 behind a race-lead still held by Chris Froome (Sky).

However, with plenty of difficult mountain-stages remaining, there is ample opportunity for Martin to climb back up the overall standings or to collect another stage victory.

In today’s action, there were two riders that stood head and shoulders above the rest. World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin went out in the early part of the day and blitzed around the course with an average speed of 54.271 kph, coming home in a time of 36:29.

None looked like coming close to matching the powerful German, but then rail-thin race-leader Chris Froome took to the course with yellow on his back.

At the first time-check, Froome was ahead of Martin’s pace by 1 second. At the second time-check, he was 2 seconds up on the German.

Martin watched anxiously as the Sky leader completed the final kilometre, and even though Froome slightly misjudged a corner you felt certain that this would be the Briton’s day.

But it was not to be and to the German’s instant delight, Froome eventually crossed the line 12 seconds slower than Martin.

Though he missed out on the stage win, Froome will be feeling good tonight. The Sky leader more than doubled his lead on general classification and is now 3:25 clear of his nearest rival, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). It is hard to see any of the overall contenders wresting yellow from his grasp.

Tomorrow is a 218km run from Fougères to Tours and looks certain to end in a bunch sprint. With crashes a frequent occurrence on earlier flat days, the goal for the Irish duo will be to make it through unscathed.

@gavmcloughlin