Tony Martin (HTC) has won Stage 3 of the Dauphine Libere. The German powered over the 42.5-km time trial course in Grenoble, winning in 55:27. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) finished second at 0:11, and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) took third at 0:43. Wiggins is the new overall leader.

Adriano Malori (Lampre) set the early standard. The Italian posted a 57:31, but Martin who was only the 45th of 175 riders, obliterated Malori's time. The other contenders spent the rest of the day attempting to better Martin's time.

Weather affected the outcome. Martin began his ride in the rain but prevailed. Some of the later starters had dry roads, but none could overtake Martin.

The GC contenders were expected to position themselves for the Dauphine Libere's final three days, and most of them did so. Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) began the day as the overall leader, but he struggled in the time trial and dropped from first to fourth overall. Wiggins started the stage third at 0:11 and used his performance to leapfrog into the lead. Cadel Evans (BMC), who was third at 0:13 at the beginning of the day, finished sixth at 1:20 to vault to second overall at 1:11. Defending champion Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) went from seventh to third overall.

One surprise was Ivan Basso (Liquigas). Basso crashed and took 15 stitches in his head in a training crash last month. Today, he lost 6:16 and is 94th overall at 10:41. Clearly, his fitness ahead of next month's Tour de France is in doubt.

In the overall, Wiggins leads Evans by 1:11 and Brajkovic by 1:21. Stage 4 will be a relatively easy day for the GC contenders. The rolling, 173.5-km run from La Motte-Servolex to Macon should be flat enough to be controlled by sprinters' teams. Who will win? Tyler Farrar (Garmin)? John Degenkolb (HTC)? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!