Wiggins moves into overall lead after Dauphine time trial

Criterium du Dauphine 2011 stage three ITT photo gallery by Graham Watson>>

German Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) beat Briton Bradley Wiggins (Sky) to take the individual time trial stage in the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné on Wednesday.

Wiggins placed a close second behind Martin at 11 seconds to take the overall lead in the race. Wiggins' Sky team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen placed third at 43 seconds. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Cervelo) in fourth was the only other rider to get within a minute of Martin's time.

Welshman Geraint Thomas (Sky) also put in a strong ride, coming seventh on the stage at 1-35 and moving himself into sixth overall.

Paris-Nice winner Martin set down the early fast time of 55-28, despite riding in wet conditions. It was a time that would stand throughout the afternoon's racing.

Wiggins was more cautious on the slick descents than Martin. The German time trial specialist started the stage 131st overall and had earmarked this stage for the win. Wiggins, however, would have been mindful of taking risks with several tough mountains stages looming.

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) lost the race lead to Wiggins after coming 14th on the stage, 2-17 down on Martin.

Wiggins now lies 1-11 ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) in the overall classification. Defending champion Janez Brajkovic (Radioshack) is third at 1-21.

Wiggins also leads the points classification having finished third, 11th, 13th and second in the four stages so far.

Tour de France hopeful Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) had another shocking day, coming in 135th on the stage and dropping to 94th overall. Irishman Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) slipped out of the overall top ten overall to 16th.

Thursday's fourth stage of the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné runs from La Motte-Servolex to Mâcon over 173.5km and features three categorised climbs before flattening out for the final 50km.

Results

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011, stage three: Grenoble to Grenoble, 42.5km ITT

1. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad in 55-28

2. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky at 11 secs

3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky at 43 secs

4. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Cervelo at 58 secs

5. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Radioshack at 1-17

6. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 1-20

7. Geraint Thomas (GB) Sky at 1-35

8. Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale at 1-37

9. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis at 1-55

10. Rui Da Costa (Por) Movistar at 1-59

Overall classification after stage three

1. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky

2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 1-11

3. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Radioshack at 1-21

4. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana at  1-56

5. Rui Da Costa (Por) Movistar at 2-12

6. Geraint Thomas (GB) Sky at 2-25

7. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto at 2-28

8. Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale at 2-45

9. Ben Hermans (Bel) Radioshack at 2-46

10. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 2-52

Geraint Thomas

Bradley Wiggins riding into second place on the stage and the overall race lead

Stage winner Tony Martin

Bradley Wiggins moves into overall lead

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011: Related links

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011: Cycling Weekly's coverage index

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011: Stage reports

Stage two: Degenkolb wins as Wiggins moves up

Stage one: Van Den Broeck wins stage as Vinokourov takes lead

Prologue: Boom wins as Wiggins comes third

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011: Photo galleries

Stage three ITT photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage two photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage one photo gallery by Graham Watson

Prologue photo gallery by Graham Watson

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011: Related links

Critérium du Dauphiné 2011: The Big Preview - includes stage guide, TV guide, team list, previous winners and more