BMC edge Sky in team time trial, Chris Froome retains lead

World time trial champions BMC lived up to their billing as pre-stage favourites with a blistering ride from Vannes to Plumelec to clock a winning time of 32:16 over a lumpy course in Brittany.

Team Sky had edged their rivals in the second two intermediate time checks but struggled on the decisive Cote de Cadoudal climb to the finish and had to regroup on the closing straight en route to missing out by 0.62 seconds - which was then rounded up as per the rules.

“We knew we were on a good one. In a perfect world we would have taken the win and yellow but we’ll take the stage,” said American Van Garderen, who now trails Britain’s Froome by 12 seconds in the general classification.

Van Garderen paid homage to the BMC rider who wore the first yellow jersey of the race after his victory in last weekend’s individual time trial in Utrecht.

“Rohan Dennis was the key – he’s just got a motor,” said Van Garderen, whose Belgian team-mate Greg Van Avermaet is now third on GC, 27 seconds down on Froome.

The Movistar team of Colombian climber Nairo Quintana were just four seconds down in third place while Alberto Contador's Tinkoff-Saxo team were the fourth quickest on the day, 28 seconds down on winners BMC.

"We're a bit sad not to win the stage but I'm happy," said Quintana. "Today I managed to win a little bit of time back on some of my rivals."

Sky had looked odds on to win the tough race against the clock but were forced to slow for Ireland’s Nicolas Roche – the all-important fifth man – on the closing segment of the final climb.

“I’m annoyed – we should have won that,” said Welshman Geraint Thomas, who could be seen shouting to Froome to slow his pace on the home straight in Plumelec.

“Fair play – BMC did a good ride. But I’m disappointed. I think we should be happy though – we put time into everyone else apart from Tejay.”

Froome now leads Spaniard Contador by 1:03 ahead of the race’s first rest day, with Quintana one second shy of two minutes down.

Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali's problems continued when his Astana team could only post the fifth quickest time 35 seconds in arrears. The Sicilian falls to 13th place on GC 2:22 down on 2013 champion Froome ahead of the Pyrenees.

Winners in the last Tour team time trial back in 2013, the Australian team were first to roll down the ramp with just six riders following the first week withdrawals of injured trio Simon Gerrans, Daryl Impey and Michael Albasini.

Their victory two years ago put Gerrans in yellow with both Impey and Albasini level on time – another cruel twist in fortunes at the end of a brutal opening phase of the 102nd edition of the Tour.

Orica showed guts and solidarity by riding the entire TTT as a unit of six – but their target time ended up being two seconds shy of five minutes slower than BMC’s winning ride.

Without their specialist time triallist Tony Martin the Etixx-QuickStep team of Rigobeto Uran were always up against it. But they dug deep to post the seventh best time – and that man Uran is nicely place on GC in sixth, just 1:18 down on the summit.

Uran has hardly been spotted throughout the opening phase of the race – but unlike many of the other outsiders, he has not come unstuck during a particularly demanding start to this Tour.

Sky started the final climb with six men before Wout Poels dropped off to leave them with the bare minimum required to post a time. This was not so much of an issue: Astana, Movistar and winners BMC had all finished with just five riders. But it did mean that Sky’s impressive ride almost came unstuck when Nicolas Roche started to struggle inside the closing few hundred metres.

Thomas yelled at Froome to slow the pace, and all four Sky riders looked back at the pained Roche, who later admitted – in one of the understatements of the race so far – that he was “a bit out of my comfort zone on that climb”.

Roche’s wobble could have been the difference between victory and second place for Sky: they had led BMC by five seconds at the foot of the climb in Cadoudel, 2km from the finish.

Roche deserves special mention for not throwing in the towel when he was clearly at the limit of his powers – but the plaudits must go to Australian Rohan Dennis, the winner of the race’s opening individual time trial who Van Garderen credited as being the driving force behind BMC’s winning ride.

Of all the favourites Joaquim Rodriguez shipped the most time after his Katusha team could only muster the 19th best time 1:53 down on the winners. The Spanish stage three winner drops to 18th on GC, almost four minutes behind Froome.

After Monday’s rest day the race resumes with the first of three days in the Pyrenees. The 167km stage 10 takes place on Bastille Day so will have French riders in a flutter as the peloton heads from Tarbes to La-Pierre-Saint-Martin for the first high summit finish of the race.

Sky may have missed out on the stage win but it was a pretty successful day in the office for the yellow jersey, who extended his lead over all his rivals bar Van Garderen.