Stage Eleven: Tony Martin Wins Time Trial; Froome Adds Insurance

German cyclist Tony Martin (Omega) rode the fastest time trial today at Mont St. Michel, and Chris Froome (Sky) took second, adding 2 minutes or more to all of his closest challengers.  Six riders moved up in rank among the GC top 20, including Alberto Contador (Saxo) and Cadel Evans (BMC), but they all lost at least 2 minutes to Froome.  Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega) moved up the most (from 13th to 7th), and regained the White Jersey, but even he lost 1'20" to Froome.

So is the Yellow Jersey already decided?  Not quite, but almost.  With a 3-1/2 minute lead over Alejandro Valverde and Bauke Mollema, only a melt-down my Froome and/or the Sky team will open the door for someone else to win the coveted jersey.  Possible meltdowns would include illness, accidents, or failure of the team to protect Froome or to chase down aggressive attackers.  When the race returns to the mountains on Sunday, the hopefuls will have several stages to pull off the miracle, but I do not expect them to be successful.  Contador (currently in 4th) will be disappointed not to win 1st place, but Valverde and Mollema will be thrilled if they can retain their 2nd and 3rd place rankings.  For them and their teams (Movistar and Belkin), the Tour has already exceeded their dreams.

Between now and Sunday, the sprinters will have 3 more chances to wrest the Green Jersey from Peter Sagan (Cannondale), but if all they do is match points with him, it will not happen.

How would you like to ride the Tour de France on one of these bikes?  (Found in the attic of the Nyon Château/Museum in Switzerland.)

Or, what if the time trials were measured by the clock in the local church's clock tower?  (This clock tower is in Yvoire, France - across Lac Leman from Nyon, Switzerland.)

Or, how about using this clock to time the race?  (On the wall of the Château at Azay le Rideau, in the Loire Valley of France -- where the Tour will pass beginning tomorrow..)