Big guns scrap it out one more time in race against the clock
The penultimate stage of the Tour will see the big general classification riders and the time trial specialists battle for a stage victory, with race leader Bradley Wiggins seeking to seal his Tour victory with a flourish and Sky team-mate Chris Froome perhaps aiming to make a statement by taking the stage.
He has ridden for Wiggins during the race and showed on several occasions that he was stronger on the climbs, but held back under team orders. Wiggins beat him in the first long time trial on stage nine, though. While it’s almost impossible for Froome to close the two minute five second gap between then, he will do what he can to grab a victory and get closer on GC.
Third-placed Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) is 36 seconds behind Froome but unlikely to beat the Briton and encroach on second place. He’s been competitive all Tour, though, and will likely try anyway.
Further back, first American rider Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) is likely too far off Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) to push for fourth overall, but the best young rider in this year’s Tour will battle for the stage win. Ditto for his team leader Cadel Evans, who was unable to successful defend his Tour title, but who has said he will try for the victory today.
The GC battle will continue amongst the riders further down in the overall classification, with a top ten finish in the Tour a prestigious achievement and many trying to achieve that. The riders from seventh to twelfth, namely Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack Nissan), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Janez Brajkovic (Astana), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ BigMat), Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Andreas Klöden (RadioShack Nissan) are less than four minutes apart and their places will likely be reshuffled to some extent today.
Former Tour de France competitor Daniel Lloyd (IG Specialized Sigma) rode the time trial course before the Tour started and gives an insight into the technical demands of today’s course, plus more Tour-related information. The video below gives his course preview and provides more details about the route the riders will battle it out on today.
Time trial start list (French local time):
1, Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) 12:00:00
2, Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) 12:01:00
3, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 12:02:00
4, Sebastian Langeveld (Orica-Greenedge) 12:03:00
5, Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) 12:04:00
6, Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Sharp) 12:05:00
7, Albert Timmer (Argos-Shimano) 12:06:00
8, Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha) 12:07:00
9, Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) 12:09:00
10, Bram Tankink (Rabobank) 12:10:00
11, Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) 12:11:00
12, Yann Huguet (Argos-Shimano) 12:12:00
13, Yohann Gene (Europcar) 12:13:00
14, Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 12:14:00
15, Cyril Lemoine (Argos-Shimano) 12:15:00
16, Karsten Kroon (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 12:16:00
17, Jonathan Cantwell (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 12:17:00
18, Roy Curvers (Argos-Shimano) 12:18:00
19, Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 12:19:00
20, Cedric Pineau (FDJ-BigMat) 12:20:00
21, Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat) 12:21:00
22, Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil-DCM) 12:22:00
23, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol) 12:23:00
24, Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 12:24:00
25, Luis Ángel Maté (Cofidis) 12:25:00
26, Anders Lund (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 12:26:00
27, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) 12:27:00
28, Jean Marc Marino (Saur-Sojasun) 12:28:00
29, Greg Henderson (Lotto-Belisol) 12:29:00
30, André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 12:30:00
31, Sebastien Hinault (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 12:31:00
32, Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 12:32:00
33, Matthew Goss (Orica-Greenedge) 12:33:00
34, Joan Horrach (Katusha) 12:34:00
35, Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) 12:35:00
36, Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM) 12:36:00
37, Matthieu Sprick (Argos-Shimano) 12:37:00
38, Baden Cooke (Orica-Greenedge) 12:38:00
39, Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas-Cannondale) 12:39:00
40, Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team) 12:40:00
41, Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale) 12:41:00
42, Luca Paolini (Katusha) 12:42:00
43, Michael Albasini (Orica-Greenedge) 12:43:00
44, Rubén Plaza (Movistar Team) 12:44:00
45, Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 12:46:00
46, Daryl Impey (Orica-Greenedge) 12:48:00
47, David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp) 12:50:00
48, Federico Canuti (Liquigas-Cannondale) 12:52:00
49, David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) 12:54:00
50, Koen de Kort (Argos-Shimano) 12:56:00
51, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) 12:58:00
52, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) 13:00:00
53, Francis de Greef (Lotto-Belisol) 13:02:00
54, Nicki Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 13:04:00
55, Kristjan Koren (Liquigas-Cannondale) 13:06:00
56, Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) 13:08:00
57, Stuart O’Grady (Orica-Greenedge) 13:10:00
58, Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team) 13:12:00
59, Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) 13:14:00
60, Michael Morkov (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 13:16:00
61, Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) 13:18:00
62, Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) 13:20:00
63, Romain Zingle (Cofidis) 13:22:00
64, Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 13:24:00
65, Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 13:26:00
66, Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD) 13:28:00
67, Rubén Pérez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 13:30:00
68, Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat) 13:32:00
69, Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) 13:34:00
70, Christophe Kern (Europcar) 13:36:00
71, Christian Knees (Sky Procycling) 13:38:00
72, Vasili Kiryienka (Movistar Team) 13:40:00
73, Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) 13:42:00
74, Simon Gerrans (Orica-Greenedge) 13:44:00
75, Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) 13:46:00
76, Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack-Nissan) 13:48:00
77, Marco Marzano (Lampre-ISD) 13:50:00
78, Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 13:52:00
79, Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 13:54:00
80, Guillaume Levarlet (Saur-Sojasun) 13:56:00
81, Pieter Weening (Orica-Greenedge) 13:58:00
82, Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas-Cannondale) 14:00:00
83, Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 14:02:00
84, Kevin de Weert (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 14:04:00
85, Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) 14:06:00
86, Simone Stortoni (Lampre-ISD) 14:08:00
87, Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) 14:10:00
88, Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM) 14:12:00
89, Dimitriy Fofonov (Astana) 14:14:00
90, Sébastien Minard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 14:16:00
91, Christian Vandevelde (Garmin-Sharp) 14:18:00
92, Cyril Gautier (Europcar) 14:20:00
93, Mikale Cherel (FDJ-BigMat) 14:22:00
94, Davide Malacarne (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 14:24:00
95, Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) 14:26:00
96, Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) 14:28:00
97, Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 14:30:00
98, Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 14:32:00
99, Vladimir Karpets (Movistar Team) 14:34:00
100, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) 14:36:00
101, Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur-Sojasun) 14:38:00
102, Sergio Paulinho (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 14:40:00
103, Yiry Trofimov (Katusha)) 14:42:00
104, Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) 14:44:00
105, Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team) 14:46:00
106, Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ-BigMat) 14:48:00
107, Amael Moinard (BMC Racing Team) 14:50:00
108, Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 14:52:00
109, Andriy Grivko (Astana) 14:54:00
110, Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 14:56:00
111, Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) 14:58:00
112, Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) 15:00:00
113, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 15:02:00
114, George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team) 15:04:00
115, Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) 15:06:00
116, Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 15:08:00
117, Gianpaolo Caruso (Katusha) 15:10:00
118, Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 15:12:00
119, Richie Porte (Sky Procycling) 15:14:00
120, Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) 15:16:00
121, Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) 15:18:00
122, Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 15:20:00
123, Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 15:22:00
124, Juanjo Cobo (Movistar Team) 15:24:00
125, Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) 15:26:00
126, Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) 15:28:00
127, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 15:30:00
128, Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) 15:32:00
129, Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 15:34:00
130, Michael Rogers (Sky Procycling) 15:36:00
131, Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat) 15:38:00
132, Jérome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) 15:40:00
133, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) 15:42:00
134, Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) 15:44:00
135, Rui Costa (Movistar Team) 15:46:00
136, Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 15:48:00
137, Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) 15:50:00
138, Denis Menchov (Katusha) 15:52:00
139, Chris Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 15:54:00
140, Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan) 15:57:00
141, Andreas Kloden (RadioShack-Nissan) 16:00:00
142, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 16:03:00
143, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 16:06:00
144, Janez Brajkovic (Astana) 16:09:00
145, Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 16:12:00
146, Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) 16:15:00
147, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) 16:18:00
148, Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) 16:21:00
149, Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) 16:24:00
150, Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 16:27:00
151, Chris Froome (Sky Procycling) 16:30:00
152, Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) 16:33:00