2012 Tour de France gets longer time trials

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The organisers of the Tour de France have added even more distance to the time trials of the 2012 event, tacking another five kilometers to bring the total of the three individual tests to 101.5km.

Technical director Jean-Francois Pescheux said that after surveying the course for stage 9 from Arc-et-Senans to Besançon, originally a 38km test, and the 52km stage 19 from Bonneval to Chartres, it was necessary to alter the courses.

Stage 9 will now run 41.5km, while the final time trial will be 53.5km in length. The 6.1km prologue in Liège remains unchanged.

The change could be good news for defending champion Cadel Evans, who put 2:31 into rival Andy Schleck in the final time trial of the 2011 Tour de France.

Schleck has vowed to improve his capabilities against the clock, giving himself the aim of losing only 20 seconds over 40km this time around.