Martin untouchable in Grenoble time trial

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Paris-Nice champion Tony Martin confirmed his time trialling prowess by dominating the Grenoble time trial in the Critérium du Dauphiné. The HTC-Highroad rider posted a time 11 seconds quicker than British champion Bradley Wiggins (Sky) to win the stage.

Wiggins was far faster than any of the other general classification contenders, taking out the race lead from the overnight leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) with his result.

Wiggins now holds a 1:11 lead over Cadel Evans (BMC) and 1:21 over Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack).

The 42.5km Grenoble time trial is the world's first glimpse at the 2011 Tour de France in action, with the decisive Dauphiné stage exactly mirroring what the contenders will face on the second to last day in July.

It was this stage which attracted some of the top time triallists in the world to the Critérium du Dauphiné, and the names at the top of the results sheet were no surprise.

Martin crushed the time of early leader Adriano Malori (Lampre-NGC), topping the Italian's 57:31 by over two minutes.

Weather was certainly a factor in the day's outcome, as rain fell on the earlier starters, including Martin, who set out as the 45th of 175 riders. Despite the wet roads, he posted an intimidating standard for the later starters with a 55:28, averaging just shy of 46km/h.

“It was a really technical course because the road was also a little wet,” Martin said immediately after winning the stage. “I quickly found my rhythm though and so I’m satisfied with my ride.

“I had four weeks with no races and so the first few days were really hard but its getting better and better so far I’m feeling good.”

The stage victory makes Martin a favourite for the same time trial in the Tour de France. However he knows he will face much greater competition come July.

“It was a nice test and I’m really confident for the Tour de France time trial. But for sure there will be other good riders riding the Tour too, especially Fabian Cancellara. Winning today means a lot for me but I know I’ll have to go a little faster in the Tour de France,” he said.

US champion David Zabriskie, who recently dominated both the Amgen Tour of California test and his national championships, fell well short of the German's time, losing one second per kilometre to come in with a time of 56:25.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) went 14 seconds quicker than Zabriskie, and the three held the top spots for much of the day.

One of the day's biggest surprises was the dismal performance of Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who lost a whopping 6:16 on the day, raising serious doubts about his form ahead of the Tour de France. The Italian crashed on his face in training three weeks ago and was already almost five minutes back on the general classification.

Roads dried up for some of the later starters, but still no one was able to challenge Martin's time until Sky's Bradley Wiggins came through the second intermediate check after 27.5km with a time equal to the German's.

The morning's race leader, Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) had difficulty with the technical descents as the rain began to fall anew and was trailing two minutes behind Wiggins, who looked set to take over the Critérium du Dauphiné lead.

The roads dried up for Wiggins and the rest of the top men on the general classification on the final leg of the course, but they were unable to match the powerful German talent.

Wiggins couldn't quite keep the pace for the stage victory, coming in ten seconds shy of the win and was angry to have missed victory, but his time was still good enough to propel him into the race lead.

Cadel Evans (BMC), who began the day in fourth overall, lost 1:20 to Martin, while Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma Lotto) fell out of his spot in third on GC after he went around the course 2:39 slower than Martin.

Vinokourov, grimacing in the yellow and blue jersey, came sprinting to the line for a dreary 14th place finish on the day with a 57:45, a time which dropped him to fourth overall behind Wiggins, Evans and Brajkovic.

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