Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad won today's stage of the Vuelta a España, a 47 kilometer time trial in Salamanca. Martin beat out two Team Sky riders to take the stage victory. Chris Froome finished second at :59, Bradley Wiggins third at 1:22. Wiggins went out fast, but seemed to slow in the second part of the race, perhaps due to a growing headwind. Swiss time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara finished fourth at 1:27 behind the flying Martin.
Thanks to his strong ride in the time trial, Team Sky's Chris Froome took over the race lead. The general classifiation battle remains tight as Jakob Fuglsang of Leopard-Trek sits second at 12 seconds, while Bradley Wiggins is second at 20 seconds. Last year's winner Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Cannonadle is fourth at 31 seconds. The standings set up an intriguing plotline at Team Sky, where Wiggins entered the race as the team's general classification leader, but not trails his young team-mate Froome.
Tomorrow, the Vuelta takes a rest day. Then, it's back into the mountains. Wednesday's stage runs 167 kilometers from Verìn to the Estaciòn de Montaña Manzaneda. Yes, kids, that bit about the Estaciòn de Montaña means uphill finish. It should be another day for the general classification to reshuffle.
Here is the current general classification:
Vuelta a España complete results and general classification standings.