Team Sky Procycling's Bradley Wiggins showed he's the man to beat at the Tour de France, winning the first big time trial and cementing his hold on the yellow jersey he wants to take home in two weeks.

The three-time Olympic track champion is trying to become the first British champion of cycling's premier Grand Tour. He dominated Monday's race against the clock - a discipline he loves - in the 25.8-mile ninth stage between Arc-et-Senans and Besancon.

"That was my physical best out there," Wiggins told French TV after his first stage victory in the Tour. "It's probably my best time trial ever."

Christopher Froome, his Sky teammate and countryman who won Saturday's seventh stage, was second - 35 seconds behind. Their 1-2 punch was especially hard on Australian Cadel Evans, the defending champion, who finished 1:43 behind Wiggins in sixth.

Evans remains second overall, trailing Wiggins by 1:53. Froome jumped to third, from sixth, and is 2:07 behind his teammate.

"I was really motivated -- the time trial is my thing," Wiggins said, adding he had worked hard on his riding position, breathing and study of the course. "I am very happy now."

Wiggins insisted the three-week Tour is far from over, saying a crash or illness could douse his victory hopes. He also noted that Evans has vowed to fight to the finish.

"It's never over until the fat lady sings, and she hasn't entered the building yet," he said.

But the stage raises questions about whether Evans - or anyone else - can challenge Wiggins and his team, which has shown strength in both the climbs and time trials that often determine the Tour winner.

Wiggins entered the stage looking to move up in the overall standings, a stage victory not his top priority.

"My goal was to get a minute on Cadel ... I've come away with a bit more than that, it's a bonus," Wiggins explained and added "Winning the stage is like Christmas - it's brilliant."

Riders set off one by one down the starter's ramp for the time trial. By the first time check, at just more than 10 miles, Evans was more than a minute slower than Wiggins, but he was able to limit the damage.

Evans was "a little bit disappointed" but insisted the Tour de France wasn't over for him.

"I didn't ride my best time trial, but certainly not a bad one," he told Roadcycling.com and added "In comparison to the other time trialists like Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin and so on, it seems as though I wasn't so far off the mark. But Team Sky had two very, very strong riders today."

BMC Racing Team sports director John Lelangue said the team's approach was no different than that of the final time trial in the 2011 Tour de France, when Evans gained the race lead on the penultimate day.

"We just wanted to do like we did in Grenoble last year, like we did in former time trials in all the races this year," Lelangue explained to Roadcycling.com and added "We just considered it a normal time trial and did our own race. Two minutes, two weeks - we have time."

On one of the warmest days so far in this Tour de France, many riders crossed the finish with white spittle ringing their lips, a sign of dehydration. Unlike usual road stages, time trials require solo efforts, placing additional importance on form, concentration and rhythm.

After 10 straight days of racing, the 178-rider Tour de France peloton gets its first rest day Tuesday. The field then faces two hard days in the Alps, including a summit finish Thursday that is likely to shake up the standings even further.

Read on to get the same cycling training diary as stage winner and Tour de France leader Bradley Wiggins. Follow Roadcycling.com on Twitter and Facebook to receive daily Tour de France news updates automatically. Sign up for your own feature-filled Roadcycling.com/TrainingPeaks-powered cycling training diary here - it's used by pro teams in the Tour including Bradley Wiggins' Team Sky, Team GreenEdge and Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank.