Tour de France 2012: Rest day

After 10 strenuous days of racing, the 178 riders still competing in this year’s Tour de France will be relieved to have reached the first of the race’s two rest days on Tuesday.

With still two weeks to go before the end of the event, the 99th edition has already been ranked as the most dangerous in decades, with 20 cyclists forced to abandon following crashes.

Slovakia’s Peter Sagan stayed out of trouble to win three stages in his race debut and remains well in contention to secure the green jersey, heading into stage 10, a 194.5 km trek from Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine.

Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins, who’s hoping to become the first British man to win the race, produced a stunning performance to clinch the individual time trial from Arc-et-Senans to Besancon on Monday.

He now leads Australia’s Cadel Evans by one minute and 53 seconds in the overall standings.

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