TDF 2013: Stage 11: Injured Tony Martin Prevails in Time Trial

tony-martin-action-german-national-champion — Tony Martin, Omega Pharma Quickstep, placed the best time in the time trial, and he couldn’t be beat.

July 10, 2013. By Jen Benepe

The time to beat in today’s time trial was established early on by Tony Martin of the Omega Pharma QuickStep team in a time of 24 minutes, 42 seconds.

And it would never be beaten, even by the top general classification rider and Yellow Jersey, Chris Froome. But Froome did increase his time over Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde, who is running second overall in the classification, and Alberto Contador moved up into 4th position overall.

It was a surprise for some who expected that Martin was hurt by a crash earlier in the Tour. But the German is a self-described tough guy who won’t shrink from a challenge despite cracked ribs.

Michal Kwiatkowski who has wowed Tour fans with his speed and endurance in almost all of the stages so far won back the White Jersey for best young rider with the seventh best time trial time.

The Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel individual time trial was an opportunity for some riders to rise in the overall classification, and for others, like Chris Froome of Team Sky, to add an advantage to their lead.

Mont Saint Michel, the little village on top of a rock surrounded by ocean waters provided an ideal backdrop for the stage, but also offered the opportunity for smart riders to create an advantage. Froome is now ahead of Valverde by 3 minutes and 25 seconds which should help in the mountain stages that lie ahead.

Froome also put a big deficit between himself and Team BMC’s Cadel Evans for one who won the 2010 Tour de France in Grenoble with his time trial results.

Andy Schleck who is not a time trialing specialist has nevertheless improved his time trials over the past two years. But today he was unable to improve his position, ending and he is now 8 minutes and 32 seconds back from Froome.

And one can never forget the fastest time ever posted by Team Saxo-Tinkoff’s Alberto Contador at the 2009 individual time trial in Annecy where he beat Lance Armstrong by 3 seconds. Today he was able to improve his position, and is now 3 minutes and 54 seconds behind Froome.

This makes Froome, Valverde and Contador the men to watch in the Alps.

Winds buffeted the riders in the second half of the 33Km course that was mostly downhill but had a couple of hilly rises.

The stage was a welcome respite from the media endless hand-wringing over the crash in the final run up to the line in Stage 9 to Saint Malo.

At first that incident looked like it was the fault of Omega Pharma Quickstep rider Mark Cavendish, but on second and third look, Marcel Kittel’s lead-out man Tom Veelers stopped pedaling in the middle of the final meters, a definite no-no in the world of cycling.

On the primetime coverage of NBC coverage of the Tour last night July 9, the announcers spent so much time talking about the incident that we were dizzy. Clearly we need something to talk about on a flat stage.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reported that Veelers has asked for Cavendish to be disqualified from the Tour. That’s unlikely to happen since Veelers dropped off Kittel and stopped pedaling in the middle of the sprinters’ quick stream, in the final 500 meters.

After Martin posted the best time early in the stage today, Thomas de Gendt of Vacansoleil held the next best time at 25 minutes 21 seconds, a full 39 seconds back, leaving room for a better time trialer like Evans to slip in a better place.

The company Vacansoleil which specializes in French vacation experiences, has already announced that they will not be continuing to sponsor the cycling team in 2014, so the riders are looking for another sponsor. How they do in this Tour will be important in furthering their search.

With 168 riders already through the finish line, Svein Tuft of Orica GreenEdge had posted the third best time overall at a5 minutes 35 seconds.

Kenyan-born Froome would be the last to go off for the stage because he held the Yellow Jersey. This would give him the advantage of knowing the fastest time, and being able to work hard to improve that.

Froome was in pursuit of Alejandro Valverde who started three minutes ahead of him. The Brit was second to his team-mate Bradley Wiggins in both long time trials of the 2012 Tour de France. He was pursuing Valverde who went off directly in front of him.

Evans was unable to beat Martin’s time, and came in 14th place. Then Kwiatkowski, the young Polish rider, was in sixth place with a time of 25 minutes 37 seconds, 55 seconds behind Tony Martin.

Then Andy Schleck posted one of the worst times of the stage, suggesting at least for now, that the Luxembourgian has still not gotten back to his previous fitness since he cracked his pelvis earlier this year.

Contador crossed the finish line in 12th place. Meanwhile Froome was posting times that would be faster than Tony Martin’s, but he lost 12 seconds in the second half of the stage.

The overall classification at the end of the Time Trial in Mont Saint Michel:

Overall individual time classification

Total distance covered: 1743.5 KM

RANK	RIDER	RIDER NO.	TEAM	TIMES	GAP

1.	GBRFROOME Christopher	1	SKY PROCYCLING	42h 29′ 24”
2.	ESPVALVERDE Alejandro	121	MOVISTAR TEAM	42h 32′ 49”	+ 03′ 25”
3.	NEDMOLLEMA Bauke	164	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	42h 33′ 01”	+ 03′ 37”
4.	ESPCONTADOR Alberto	91	TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF	42h 33′ 18”	+ 03′ 54”
5.	CZEKREUZIGER Roman	94	TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF	42h 33′ 21”	+ 03′ 57”
6.	NEDTEN DAM Laurens	167	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	42h 33′ 34”	+ 04′ 10”
7.	POLKWIATKOWSKI Michal	153	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	42h 34′ 08”	+ 04′ 44”
8.	COLQUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander	128	MOVISTAR TEAM	42h 34′ 42”	+ 05′ 18”
9.	PORCOSTA Rui Alberto	124	MOVISTAR TEAM	42h 35′ 01”	+ 05′ 37”
10.	FRAPÉRAUD Jean-Christophe	81	AG2R LA MONDIALE	42h 35′ 03”	+ 05′ 39”
11.	ESPRODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin	101	KATUSHA TEAM	42h 35′ 12”	+ 05′ 48”
12.	DENFUGLSANG Jakob	63	ASTANA PRO TEAM	42h 35′ 12”	+ 05′ 48”
13.	IRLMARTIN Daniel	175	GARMIN – SHARP	42h 35′ 16”	+ 05′ 52”
14.	AUSEVANS Cadel	31	BMC RACING TEAM	42h 36′ 18”	+ 06′ 54”

The final times of the Mont Saint Michel time trial:

Overall individual time classification

Total distance covered: 33 KM

RANK	RIDER	RIDER NO.	TEAM	TIMES	GAP

1.	GERMARTIN Tony	154	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	36′ 29”
2.	GBRFROOME Christopher	1	SKY PROCYCLING	36′ 41”	+ 00′ 12”
3.	BELDE GENDT Thomas	203	VACANSOLEIL-DCM	37′ 30”	+ 01′ 01”
4.	AUSPORTE Richie	6	SKY PROCYCLING	37′ 50”	+ 01′ 21”
5.	POLKWIATKOWSKI Michal	153	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	38′ 00”	+ 01′ 31”
6.	CANTUFT Svein	189	ORICA GREENEDGE	38′ 04”	+ 01′ 35”
7.	FRACHAVANEL Sylvain	152	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	38′ 06”	+ 01′ 37”
8.	FRAROY Jérémy	78	FDJ.FR	38′ 12”	+ 01′ 43”
9.	NEDDUMOULIN Tom	194	TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO	38′ 14”	+ 01′ 45”
10.	ESPCASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan	123	MOVISTAR TEAM	38′ 21”	+ 01′ 52”
11.	NEDMOLLEMA Bauke	164	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	38′ 34”	+ 02′ 05”
12.	USATALANSKY Andrew	178	GARMIN – SHARP	38′ 37”	+ 02′ 08”

Before the GC contenders’ final times were made, the overall classification was as follows:

Overall individual time classification–Midway through the Stage 11 Time Trial

RANK	RIDER	RIDER NO.	TEAM	TIMES	GAP

1.	GBRFROOME Christopher	1	SKY PROCYCLING	41h 52′ 43”
2.	ESPVALVERDE Alejandro	121	MOVISTAR TEAM	41h 54′ 08”	+ 01′ 25”
3.	NEDMOLLEMA Bauke	164	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	41h 54′ 27”	+ 01′ 44”
4.	NEDTEN DAM Laurens	167	BELKIN PRO CYCLING	41h 54′ 33”	+ 01′ 50”
5.	CZEKREUZIGER Roman	94	TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF	41h 54′ 34”	+ 01′ 51”
6.	ESPCONTADOR Alberto	91	TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF	41h 54′ 34”	+ 01′ 51”
7.	COLQUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander	128	MOVISTAR TEAM	41h 54′ 45”	+ 02′ 02”