2012 Tour de France, Stage 9 Results

The assumption was that Bradley Wiggins would gain time on his rivals in the battle for overall honors in the 99th Tour de France but there was still a question about who might win the stage. If you doubted the dominance of the Sky team in 2012 then look at the figures from the time trial from Arc-et-Senans to Besançon in stage nine: Wiggins confirmed that his quest for the yellow jersey is a genuine one. He claimed his first stage victory in the Tour, beating his team-mate Chris Froome by 35".

The ninth stage of the 99th Tour de France was a 41.5km time trial from Arc-et-Senans to Besançon. Riders began the race in reverse order of their position in the general classification and the ‘Lanterne Rouge' after eight stages, Brice Feillu , began his race at 9.45am. There were two minutes between the first 118 riders and then there were three minutes separating the starters. The rider in the yellow jersey, Bradley Wiggins began the TT at 4.39pm. The weather was fine for the start with a temperature of about 24 degrees Celsius.

The early standard was set by the Swedish TT champion Gustav Larsson, the 13th starter, who covered the course at an average speed of 45.8km and even in the first hour several riders seemed like they would risk being eliminated by the time cut today (25% of the winner's time): Engoulvent was 8'15” slower than Larsson. Another Vacansoleil rider, Westra, beat Larsson's time by 10”. Despite racing with a fractured bone in his wrist, Tony Martin posted the fastest times at each check and finished the course at an average speed of 46.4km/h to eclipse the time of the Vacansoleil riders; he achieved this impressive time despite having a puncture on the course today. Casar was one of the surprises today: when he went past the 16.5km time check, he was 7” behind Martin and 1” ahead of Voigt who, at the time, had set the second best times at all the checks.

The winner of the prologue, Fabian Cancellara raced the first 16.5km at an average speed of 45.8km/h and posted a time that was 39” better than Martin at the same point. With 16km to go, Cancellara raced past his three-minute man, Mollema (RAB) and with 10km to he was ahead of Martin by 1'09” and, at the finish, he led by 1'19” – covering the course at an average of 47.6km/h. As impressive as it was, the former leader of the youth classification – Tejay van Garderen – eclipsed the times of the four-time world champion at the 16.5km and 31.5km check... but only by two and three seconds, respectively. But at the finish, the American was nine seconds behind the Swiss rider.

Froome beat van Garderen's time by 24” at the 16.5km mark and it was the first hint that Sky was going to dominate this time trial. But there was a better time yet to come... after just 11km of racing, Wiggins had already added another 20” to his advantage over the 2011 Tour champion, Evans! It was, however, interesting to note that other TT specialists from the British team didn't exactly make a big impression: Rogers had been in the top 10 of the intermediate checks but he finished well down the rankings as did Porte and Boasson Hagen who are usually strong against the clock. It became clear, however, that both Wiggins and Froome were men on a mission: they set the two fastest times at the first check.

Until this year, the best place Wiggins had enjoyed in a stage of the Tour de France was his second in the team time trial of the 2009 race when he was the revelation of the GC riders and finished fourth overall (with the Garmin team). He was third in the stage to La Planche des Belles Filles – which was his equal best place in an individual stage (along with the opening stage of the 2009 Tour in Monaco) until today... he and Froome were also fastest at 31.5km, 36” and 20” ahead of van Garderen, respectively.

Wiggins ultimately finished 35” ahead of his team-mate and improved his advantage over Cadel Evans who was sixth in the stage; there is now 1'53” between first and second overall. Froome's ride elevated him up the rankings from sixth overall to third.

Top 10 stage nine finishers:
1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:51:24
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:35
3 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:57
4 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:06
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:01:24
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:43
7 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:01:59
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:07
9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:02:08
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:02:09

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), who started the day in third place overall, rode a good time trial and limited his losses, finishing 2:07 down on Wiggins and slipping one place to 4th on GC.


Tomorrow: rest day.

Wednesday, Stage 10, Mâcon-Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, 194.5 km. The scene is set and with a domination by Bradley Wiggins in the solitary discipline of the time trial, when the race leader won his first stage of the Tour de France and increased his lead in the general classification. He's followed his plan to perfection. And, despite all this, there are riders who still stand ready to take up the battle on the roads of the Tour de France. Several have been eliminated from the equation but there are still several willing to push Wiggins all the way to Paris. The stage to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine provides the perfect setting for an attack, especially on terrain like what is offered on the steep slopes of the Grand Colombier climb. If the Sky team stifled any potential troublemakers in the six kilometres of the rise to La Planches des Belles Filles, imagine what is possible with 17.4km of the first ‘hors categorie' ascent of the 99th Tour.

TdF analysis by Jean-François Pescheux: "Back to the mountains. On paper, the Grand Colombier is a monster. In my opinion, it is the toughest mountain in France, with sections at 12%. Nevertheless, its location 43 km from the finish changes the story altogether. Rather than a single devastating attack, I see a group of five or six strong riders break away and then come together before the finish. This is a classical but always exciting scenario, especially if one of the big names is missing from the breakaway. Look out just before the riders reach Bellegarde-sur-Valserine: we found a small bump which could very well make things easier for the finish line judge..."

GC:
1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 39:09:20
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:53
3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:02:07
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:23
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:03:02
6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 0:03:19
7 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:04:23
8 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:14
9 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:05:20
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:29
11 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:05:46
12 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:05:56
13 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan 0:05:59
14 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:06:29
15 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:06:33
16 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:08:18
17 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:08:19
18 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:08:31
19 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:08:34
20 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:08:44
21 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:08:53
22 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:09:06
23 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:09:07
24 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:09:32
25 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:10:00
26 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:10:25
27 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:10:27
28 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:10:46
29 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:12:16
30 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:12:23
31 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:14:10
32 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan 0:14:33
33 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:15:18
34 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:16:25
35 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:18:07
36 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 0:19:09
37 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
38 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:20:50
39 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:21:34
40 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:21:58
41 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:23:29
42 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:24:02
43 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 0:24:03
44 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:24:08
45 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:24:24
46 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:24:43
47 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:24:47
48 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Astana Pro Team 0:25:23
49 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:25:25
50 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:25:48
51 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 0:26:00
52 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:26:07
53 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:26:16
54 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:26:34
55 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:27:31
56 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:27:42
57 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:28:25
58 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:28:27
59 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:29:14
60 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:29:15
61 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:30:37
62 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:31:16
63 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 0:31:30
64 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:31:42
65 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:31:47
66 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:32:00
67 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 0:32:03
68 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:32:10
69 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre - ISD 0:32:25
70 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:32:54
71 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:32:59
72 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:33:02
73 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:34:13
74 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:34:21
75 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:34:28
76 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:34:59
77 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:35:30
78 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:35:50
79 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:36:05
80 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:36:14
81 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Sharp 0:36:16
82 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team 0:36:36
83 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:36:47
84 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:37:02
85 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:37:15
86 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:37:16
87 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:37:33
88 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan 0:37:56
89 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team 0:38:19
90 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:38:22
91 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:38:44
92 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:38:48
93 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 0:38:59
94 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 0:39:08
95 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team 0:39:31
96 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:39:32
97 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:39:34
98 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:39:44
99 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:39:53
100 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:40:35
101 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 0:40:47
102 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:40:59
103 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:41:22
104 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
105 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
106 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:41:32
107 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos - Shimano 0:41:36
108 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:41:40
109 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 0:41:58
110 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:42:07
111 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:42:45
112 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:43:04
113 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
114 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:43:21
115 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:44:00
116 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Sharp 0:44:12
117 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:45:52
118 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:45:55
119 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:47:32
120 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:48:14
121 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 0:48:25
122 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:48:46
123 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 0:48:47
124 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:49:18
125 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:50:00
126 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:50:51
127 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:50:52
128 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 0:51:02
129 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team 0:51:19
130 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:51:20
131 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:51:38
132 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Sharp 0:51:47
133 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 0:52:56
134 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team 0:53:00
135 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:54:00
136 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:54:08
137 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:54:37
138 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team 0:54:38
139 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos - Shimano 0:55:44
140 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 0:56:16
141 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar 0:56:21
142 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:56:38
143 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 0:56:42
144 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:56:49
145 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:56:57
146 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:57:33
147 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:57:46
148 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:58:46
149 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:58:48
150 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:59:25
151 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:59:41
152 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos - Shimano 1:00:02
153 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling 1:00:42
154 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:00:53
155 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre - ISD 1:01:34
156 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:01:56
157 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos - Shimano 1:02:09
158 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 1:02:36
159 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat 1:02:54
160 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 1:03:24
161 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:03:37
162 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 1:03:56
163 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre - ISD 1:04:19
164 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:05:00
165 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1:05:16
166 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:05:52
167 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:05:58
168 Yuriy Krivtsov (Fra) Lampre - ISD 1:06:19
169 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 1:06:52
170 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 1:07:08
171 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:08:47
172 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos - Shimano 1:08:48
173 Tom Veelers (Ned) Argos - Shimano 1:09:25
174 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp 1:11:33
175 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos - Shimano 1:14:51
176 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 1:17:48
177 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Sharp 1:18:32
178 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 1:19:33

Photos: Bettini

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