Chris Froome has said that he is "really happy" to have extended his Tour de France lead with a second-placed finish in today's individual time trial.
The Team Sky leader has a 3:25 lead in the general classification over Movistar's Alejandro Valverde, having finished just 12 seconds behind Tony Martin in stage 11.
The Briton told Sky Sports News: "Tony did a fantastic ride to win the stage, and he really deserves that. As world champion, time trial is his speciality.
"I am really happy with second place and having extended my advantage on the other big GC rivals. There was a really strong headwind. In the last couple of kilometres I was really struggling to turn my legs. I was just trying to get to the finish.
"That gives me a good buffer going into the next few days. I think I am going to need every second I can get the way these guys are riding."
Froome moved into the yellow jersey after winning stage eight of the race on Saturday.
Sian Cowper
