Chartres, France – Bradley Wiggins virtually secured his maiden Tour de France victory after winning the penultimate stage time-trial of the race on Saturday.
Wiggins, who took nearly two minutes from defending champion Cadel Evans when he won the stage nine time-trial over 41.5km, went into the 53.5km race against the clock with a 2min 05sec lead over Sky teammate Chris Froome.
And after a smooth, controlled ride over a course that suited him to perfection, the 32-year-old Englishman increased his advantage on the Kenyan-born Briton, who finished second on the stage at 1min 16sec.
It means Wiggins will go into Sunday's final stage to Paris – which usually does not host a battle for the yellow jersey – with an overall lead of 3:21 on Froome.
Barring catastrophe, the Belgian-born Londoner will become Britain's first yellow jersey champion.
Italian Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas capped a solid performance to cement his third place overall. He now sits 6:19 behind Wiggins.
Defending champion Cadel Evans, meanwhile, had another day to forget, the Australian finishing way off the pace to lie seventh overall at 15:51 behind Wiggins. – Sapa-AFP