Tour de France 2012:....and on the tenth day they rested

....but not before another little bit of Tour history.

Yesterday was the race of truth. And the truth was rather revealing.

One of the first men to lay down a marker for the day was World Time Trail champion Tony Martin (OPQ) who came in with a time of 53'40". When asked at the end who would beat that time he said Fabian (Cancellera) (RNT) would be fastest at the end. It was a sentiment echoed by David Millar (GRS) but he also mentioned that Wiggo and Froome Dog would not be far behind.

Cancellera did indeed go faster, a whole 1'19" faster and it was looking like the four times world champion was laying down a marker for this stage. However, Teejay van Garderen (BMC) looked like he was going to take that away from him 3 seconds up at the first check and still 2 at the second. However, he lost time in the final part of the race and ended up 9 seconds back on the Swiss power horse. It wouldn't win him the stage but was enough to lift him back into the White Jersey as best young rider.

Chris Froome (SKY) may have been back in the colours of Sky after his one day in the Polka Dots, but he was a man on a mission, he was much faster than van Garderen at all the check points and reached the line 22 seconds faster than Cancellera but by this point we knew that one man had a chance to go faster and that was his team leader.

Haimar Zubeldia (RNT) was next to cross the line just 4 seconds down on the time set by Martin earlier in the day. Then Denis Menchov (KAT) and Vincenzo Nibali (LIQ) the latter one second faster, in what at the time were 7th and 6th places, for Nibali in particular that was an exceptional finish. But the big two that every one had been talking about before the Tour were still to come in.

Out on the course Cadel Evans (BMC) was losing time to Froome and Bradley Wiggins (SKYY) who was coming behind him. It became apparent that he wasn't so much racing for the Maillot Jaune (Yellow Jersey) but to stay in second place. In the end he lost 1'08" of his lead over Froome to be just 14 seconds ahead of one Brit, but it was the one still on road that in the process of setting up history. Bradley Wiggins did just what he had done in the week long Tours he had already won this year he took control of the Time Trial and dominated it. He was 35 seconds ahead of his team mate but had opened up a further 1'43" on Evans.

It was Wiggins first stage win in the Tour, the first time that Britain filled first and second spot on one stage. It was also the Third Brit to win a stage in the same Tour, and when Wiggo pulls on Yellow again after the rest day he will equal the most consecutive days that a Brit has worn that famous jersey in the Tour.

In last year's Vuelta Froome was on the podium one step ahead of Wiggins who was returning from his broken collarbone in the first week of the 2011 Tour. He was being touted as the heir apparent to Wiggins. He may well be part of the duo of outstanding all rounders if he can keep up his support of Wiggins through the Alps and Pyrénées. Sky for the second Grand Tour in a year have two men capable of being in the top three once the shorting out of the GC starts.

As I said yesterday the top 10 may well face a bit of a shake up as a result of the Time Trial, he is how they managed.

• 1. (nc) Bradley Wiggins (SKY) 39h 09' 20" (nc)
• 2. (nc) Cadel Evans (BMC) +1'53" (+1'43)
• 3. (+3) Chris Froome (SKY) +2'07" (+35")
• 4. (-1) Vincenzo Nibali (LIQ) +2'23" (+2'07")
• 5. (-1) Denis Menchov (KAT) +3'02" (+2'08")
• 6. (-1) Haimar Zubeldia (RNT) +3'19" (+2'20)
• 7. (nc) Maxime Monfort (RNT) +4'23" (+2'15)
• 8. (+9) Teejay van Garderen (BMC) +5'14" (+1'06)
• 9. (-1) Jurgen van den Broeck (LOT) +5'20" (+3'09)
• 10. (-1) Nicolas Roche (AGM) +5'29" (+3'08")

Out of the Top Ten now is Rein Taaramae (COF) who is now in 12th only 43 seconds behind van Garderen for the white jersey.

I'd like to say enjoy the rest day, but being in yellow Brad will have a lot of press to do as well as doing a long run on the bike at some point. But I'm sure he'll enjoy knowing that his lead and dominance in the Time Trail is now making his opponents think how can they eek out enough time to challenge his lead.

Tour de France 2012: The Teams - Radioshack-Nissan

With the Tour de France only days away Radioshack-Nissan should have been preparing the only other previous winner for the Tour. But 2010 winner (upon removal of Alberto Contador) Andy Schleck suffered a fall in the Critérium Dauphiné that fractured his pelvis which means he will be going for a fourth podium in a row.

However, the team is still strong having another podium finisher from last year in the team who just happens to share the same name.

Fränk Schleck in recent years the Tour has seen the Schleck brothers often riding in tandem through the high Mountain passed. But of course in 2010 on the cobbles of stage 3 Fränk crashed out. But last year their one-two strikes returned and they both ended up on the Podium with Fränk taking third. Like his brother hs has worn yellow in the Tour before but while he is strong in the mountains it is often his time trailling that lets him down. So with 94.8km over the two time trials this year. Either he is going to have to make big inroads in the mountains or have lifted his time trialling ability to be able to hold on in the penultimate stage especially if Wiggins and Evans end up as his main rivals.

Fabian Cancellara time trialling is no difficulty to the four time World Champion in that discipline. He is also a classics winner having won Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris Robaix (twice). But he is also handy to have in the mountains able to put in long turns that can help his leader hit the last climb in the right place and state to make an impact.

Chris Horner managed to come 9th in the 2010 Tour despite in the start working for his team leader Lance Armstrong. In 2010 he won Vuelta al País Vasco and last year the Tour of California. He will be handy man for Schleck to have all the way through the mountains and although 40 now may well be able to spring the other half of the one-two attacks to help Schleck in th GC. Last year an early crash on the flat first week meant he left the Tour.

Andreas Klöden will actually be the man with the best finishing position in previous Tours in this Radioshack team with his two seconds in 2004 and 2006 while with T-Mobile. He won the 2011 Vuelta al País Vasco and came second in Paris-Nice. But like Horner crashes early last year curtailed his Tour, he returned for the Vuelta but again withdrew early. Still yet another strong component of Radioshack's team when the roads go up.

Yaroslav Popovychwas 3rd in the Giro d'Italia as far back as 2003 but has never been on the podium at the end of a Grand Tour since. Although he was best Young Rider in the Tour in 2005 when finishing 12th and managed 8th in 2007 while working for Contador and Levi Leipheimer. But having ridden for some of the best through mountains another part of the Radioshack engine that takes the Schlecks upwards.

Jens Voigt may have worn the yellow jersey twice but it is as one of the best rouleurs in the peleton that he is best known because he is not great in high mountains. In 2006 he took a stage in the Tour as part of a five man break that finished 29 minutes 58 seconds up the road from the leaders. Expect to see him just plodding away keeping things tight for Radioshack on the flatter stages.

Maxime Monfort is another climber on this team. He finished 6th in last year's tough Vuelta. Therefore he is yet another man who will marshall Schleck through the mountain passes.

Haimar Zubeldia has twice been 5th in the Tour (2003 and 2007) while riding for Euskaltel-Euskadi which tells you that he is a Basque cyclist. In that 2003 Tour he had great finishes against Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich. But yet another strong rider who has been in the top 10 of Grand Tours (six in all) showing the strength in depth of this team.

 Tony Gallopin is a young French rider who is in the Tour to be an engine for Schleck when it is required on the flat.  Haimar Zubeldia

Peleton Less Deep, Mountains High #TDF

Sylvain Chavanel took the yellow on the damp and treacherous road into Spa, he only wore it for one day after that the cobbles of the Hell of the North causing his problems. However, just as Spa is famous for Formula 1 today on a Formula 1 Sunday the French man is back in yellow.

Yesterday on the penultimate climb up the Col de la Croix de la Serra Chavanel in a grop of 7 started to pursue the leading group of 3 including his Quickstep team mate Jérôme Pineau. Pineau had taken maximum climbers points in the first 5 climbs yesterday to secure his early hold on the Polka Dot Jersey being the only man so far to wear it. Meanwhile behind him the man who took the yellow jersey back off Chavanel Fabian Cancellara was struggling to stay with the pace and was only just ridden back up to the pack by the summit.

On the last climb of the Côte de Lamoura the head of the race changed hands within the same team when Chavanel on his second lone breakaway of the Tour overtook his team mate in the spots. In the end he crossed the line 57 seconds ahead of Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto) and 1'27" ahead of Juan Manuel Gárate (Rabobank). However more crucially, 1'47" ahead of the group of Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans, Lance Armstrong, Andy Schleck and Bradley Wiggins. However, Gerraint Thomas who had been second was 5'12" back on the leader having suffered a puncture on the last climb 10km from the end. But the maillot jaune on the back of Cancellara suffered merely in the legs and not mechanically to end up 14'12" behind.

It means the Frenchman leads today as we skirt the toe of Switzerland by 1'25" from Evans, Schleck is 4th +1'55", Contador 6th +2'26", Nicolas Roche (the son of Tour winner Stephen) is 8th +2'28" and Bradley Wiggins has climbed to 11 +2'35".

Today's stage is the start of the high mountains although as Bradley Wiggins said of yesterday's stage ""I think the stage was harder than a lot of people expected but it's good to get the first mountain one out of the way". Today however there are the arrival of the first category climbs to this tour. The first Col de la Ramaz is a 14km climb averaging 7% gradient. The descent is an even steeped hill getting to 10% in places so it is fast and winding. Then after the descent a minor 3rd Category climb up Les Gets before climbing 14km out of Morzine up to Avoriaz at 6.1%. Not as tough as la Ramaz but at the end of a hard day and other cllimbs just before, somebody might just lose the Tour today.

So the mountains are here, this guy has posted a video of his reconnoiter of those final climbs.