By Gilles Le Roc’h
BESANCON, France, July 9 (Reuters) – Overall leader Bradley
Wiggins took another important step towards his dream of
becoming the first Briton crowned in the Tour de France with an
emphatic victory in the race’s first major time trial on Monday.
The Team Sky leader clocked 51 minutes and 24 seconds on the
winding 41.5-km course between Arc et Senans and Besancon, to
leave all his major rivals gasping for air.
Defending Tour champion Cadel Evans now trails Wiggins by
1:53 overall before the first rest day in the race and with the
Alps looming.
Vincenzo Nibali, never a specialist against the clock,
limited the damage by finishing eighth, 2:07 adrift, but the
Italian is already 2:23 behind the Wiggins in the general
classification.
Most Tour contenders made it clear a first survey of their
chances would be made after the ninth stage but the main lesson
learned was that Wiggins’s leading rival in the two weeks to
come could be in his own ranks.
Fellow Briton Christopher Froome finished second, 35 seconds
off the pace. He even beat Olympic and multiple world champion
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, the prologue winner, by 22
seconds.
Winner of the first mountain stage of this Tour at La
Planche des Belles Filles, the Kenyan-born Froome shines on all
terrains and could be a match for his team leader, as was the
case in the last Spanish Vuelta, when the pair finished second
and third.
Froome now stands third overall, 2:07 behind Wiggins.
(Editing By Alison Wildey)
