Tony Martin didn’t actually win by as great a margin as might have been expected. But he did win. Even without any back skin, he’s the strongest time trialist in this race. The majority of his body is little more than air-sucking foundations for a pistoning pair of thighs.
General classification changes
A bit of a physics lesson here. If smaller riders can’t stay with you on an incline, the difference will be even greater on the flat. Chris Froome therefore gained time on everyone. He finished second.
Bauke Mollema was the only yellow jersey contender to lose less than two minutes, although only just. He is in third. Alejandro Valverde lost exactly two minutes and therefore remains second. Alberto Contador and Roman Kreuziger lost a few seconds more and round out the top five.
If you’re looking for real shockers, The Schlecks finished 4m32s down on Froome. He never could time trial and slightly off his best, the effect appears to have been magnified. He basically finished with the people who were just aiming to get round so that that they could race again tomorrow.
Urine news
Someone poured piss on Mark Cavendish while he was racing. Maybe cycling really is the new rock and roll.
Chris Froome said of the incident: “One individual doing that just leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. And a bad taste in Mark’s mouth.”
A report that it was the work of a Manx cat marking its territory cannot be confirmed, but only because I made it up.
Stage 12
Flat. Sprint finish. Here’s the profile.
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