Martin continues time trial winning streak in Dauphiné

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Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) recovered from illness to dominate the flat and fast time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The German covered the 32.5 kilometres between Villars-les-Dombes and Parc des Oiseaux in 36:54 at an average speed over 52km/h.

Australia's Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) finished 47 seconds behind the world champion and so took the race leader's yellow jersey from David Veilleux (Team Europcar).

The Canadian finished 3:53 behind Martin and slipped to seventh overall. Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished third in the time trial and so climbed to second overall, just five seconds down on Dennis.

Froome rode an impressive time trial and looks on track to challenge for overall victory after his big rival Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) had a terrible day. The Spaniard finished 3:37 down on Martin, dropping to 34th overall and almost certainly out of contention. He blamed his poor performance on an allergy problem.

Martin had also been ill earlier in the French stage race but his time trial performance showed he is recovering well.

"It was not my best time trial but it wasn’t a bad one either," Martin said before climbing on the stage winner's podium.

"I’ve had stomach problems in the past few days. Fortunately, I’ve felt much better today but I was not at 100 percent of my capacities.”

Dennis looked resplendent in his bright yellow jersey. He celebrated his 23rd birthday just before heading to France. He was targeting the best young rider's white jersey but is now in yellow. The lanky rider from Adelaide rode for the Rabobank Continental Team in 2011 and showed his stage race potential by winning both the Australian Under 23 road race and time trial titles in 2012. He joined Garmin-Sharp this year and finished third in the recent time trial at the Amgen Tour of California.

Dennis leads Froome by just five seconds but faces an almighty task to hold off the British rider as the mountains begin. Thursday's stage is only 139km long but ends with the hors catégorie 12km climb to Valmorel.

"Today I wanted to get the white jersey and everything else from now is a bonus,” Dennis said.

"I'm very happy. My goal was to take the white jersey but to beat guys like Froome and Porte is a dream come true. To wear the yellow jersey in a WorldTour race… I’m stumped for words.”

"This is the best TT I’ve done up to date. I just tried to hold the power I thought I could hold average-wise but instead of dropping towards the end, I realized I had a bit more to give. It’s a great feeling to be in yellow now. I’ll just try to hold the jersey as long as I can.”

"My plan for the Dauphiné was to help Andrew Talansky but unfortunately he was sick on the first stage so he told me not to wait for him and to stay with the front bunch instead."

Alberto's bad day

Alberto Contador tried to shrug off his bad day against the clock, claiming that an allergy problem had affected his ride. However he never looked comfortable on his time trial bike, constantly moving around in the saddle, seemingly looking for some extra power.

The alarm bells will no doubt be ringing in the Saxo-Tinkoff team, especially as Contador was emphatically beaten by a host of riders, including Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) and Richie Porte (Team Sky).

Porte actually caught Contador in the final kilometres of the time trial and was one of four Team sky riders to finish in the top ten of the time trial. Tuesday's stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen was sixth, one place ahead of Porte, and Geraint Thomas was tenth. All three riders will no doubt back Froome's bid for overall success and be a key part of the Team Sky Tour de France squad.

Contador will likely look for a stage victory, lick his wounds and hope he can bounce back and find some form in time for the Tour de France.