Welcome to live coverage of stage 11 of the Tour de France - a 33km individual time trial from Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel. This is the first of two races against the clock for the riders, with the second coming next week at the business end of the Tour.

Froome may have not won today, but he extended his lead on GC. He’s now 3’25 ahead of Alejandro Valverde and 3’37 ahead of Bauke Mollema. Alberto Contador, despite his comparatively poor (by his standards) time trial, rises to fourth on GC, 3’54 on arrears.

Froome tired in the final phase there and lost his two-second advantage from the second check. The Sky rider finished 12 seconds down on Martin, with De Gendt 1’01 down and ahead of Richie Porte and Michal Kwiatkowski.

Victory for the world time trial champion Tony Martin! Chris Froome is second and Thomas De Gendt is third.

Here comes the yellow jersey Chris Froome – and he’s slowed somewhat and crosses the line for second place, 12 seconds down on Tony Martin.

Alejandro Valverde will be able to feel the breath of Chris Froome down his back… The Spaniard approaches the finish – and he should hold on. It’s the 12th best time at 2’11 – soon to be the 13th best time.

*APOLOGIES FOR THE LACK – AND TARDINESS – OF COMMENTS: THE INTERNET CONNECTION IN THE EUROSPORT CENTRAL OFFICE HAS BEEN CUT DUE TO A BURST WATER PIPE – NO JOKE*

Froome has managed to continue his momentum – he’s two seconds quicker than Martin at the second check. At this rate, he should win it by three seconds today…

Contador is only 1'14 quicker than his compatriot Rodriguez. Is that the Spaniard’s Tour over? He certainly won’t be able to win this race any more…

Joaquim Rodriguez comes home a huge 3’28 down on the leader Martin at the finish. The Katusha climber will have to do a fair bit of attacking in the Alps…

FROOME IS ON FIRE! The yellow jersey is one second ahead of Tony Martin at the first check – but has he gone out too fast on the first section, which is slightly downhill and has a favourable tailwind?

Contador is having a shocker. The Spaniard is 1’23 down on Martin at the second check.

Froome looks very fluid on his special black and yellow Pinarello time trial machine. He’s nothing like the poetry in motion that is Bradley Wiggins, and his back isn’t as flat as his absent team-mate, but he’s still one of the most accomplished riders against the clock out there.

Omega Pharma have two riders in the top five at the finish at the moment – Michal Kwiatkowski in fourth and Sylvain Chavanel in sixth.

The yellow jersey rolls down the ramp! Chris Froome is, on paper, the only other rider who could challenge Tony Martin’s time. But the big question is more how large his lead will be on GC tonight over whoever is in second place… I’m predicting three minutes.

Andy Schleck reaches Mont-Saint-Michel a huge four minutes and 43 seconds down on Tony Martin, for 106th place. Not ideal for the Luxembourger – but he’s never liked these time trials.

Both Dutchmen from Belkin – Mollema and Ten Dam – are on course, and Alejandro Valverde is now down the ramp. Contador has just passed through the first check 27 seconds down.

Roman Kreuziger is up next – and we’re now into the top five. The white jersey Nairo Quintana is already on the road. The Colombian is not an ITT specialist so this will be a tricky 40 minutes for him.

Australian Michael Rogers is going strong and will post a decent time at the finish. His Saxo-Tinkoff team-mate Alberto Contador is just about to roll down the ramp. It’s a big day for him. If he produced a duff time, the Spaniard could find himself more than three minutes down on Froome before the Ventoux on Sunday.

Rolland rolls home relaxed and hardly breaking sweat to post a time 4’15 down on Martin. Chris Froome is warming up in a special yellow skin suit with matching yellow sunglasses, listening to an iPod.

It’s the fifth best time for Sylvain Chavanel at the finish, 1’35 down on Martin.