The 2012 Tour de France has one more stage to complete before the cyclists enjoy a much-needed rest day on Tuesday. These guys certainly need it after the last several stages have resulted in major crashes, scrapes and a variety of other injuries. On Stage 9, the riders will tackle the shortest stage of the Tour, just 41.5 kilometers, for an individual time travel from Arc-et-Senans to Besançon.
Emerging from the mountains, this time trial should be a breath of fresh air for the cyclists. While there are no categorized climbs, the stage does contain some minor hills. Can Fabian Cancellara win the second time trial of the Tour de France? He captured the time trial prologue in Liege and held on to the yellow jersey until this past Saturday. While he won't be taking back the maillot jaune, Cancellara can certainly do well on this stage for his second victory.
Bradley Wiggins (38:17:56) still leads Cadel Evans in the general classification by 10 seconds. Don't expect those two to move off the top of the leaderboard.
Start time: 1:45 a.m. MT
Expected finish time: 9:31 a.m. MT
TV: NBC Sports Network resumes the weekday broadcast at 6 a.m. MT
SB Nation Denver is your source for 2012 Tour de France updates on Team Garmin-Sharp, and be sure to visit cycling blog Podium Cafe as well.
