Tony Martin won today's time trial in Grenoble at the Critérium du Dauphiné. I guess that's why he was lurking around at the back of the classification. For those keeping score at home, today marked HTC-Highroad's second consecutive stage win after John Degenkolb won yesterday. Bradley Wiggins took second in today's crono and rode fast enough to strip the leader's jersey off Alexandre Vinokourov, who finished somewhere down in the teens. Cadel Evans now sits second in the general classification at 1:11. Janez Brajkovic is in third at 1:21, Vinokourov has dropped to fourth at 1:56.
Despite the climbing, this time trial looks to be one for the specialists. Martin and Wiggins are fairly predictable names to see at the top of the results after a crono day. The rain meant that the riders took the descents a bit more gingerly than usual, but I doubt it changed the outcome significantly. Surely, Martin must be happy to have this confirmation of his form ahead of the Tour. Likewise for Wiggins and Evans, who both also did strong rides. Now the general classification battles moves on to the mountains, where I'd expect Brajkovic to make a play for the overall. A couple other riders worth watching in the mountains: Rui Costa (5th at 2:12), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (7th at 2:28), Jérôme Coppel (10th at 2:52) and Kanstantsin Sivstov (11th at 2:52). Tomorrow, though, is for the sprinters!
Here is your current general classification.