MONT-SAINT-MICHEL: Chris Froome's rivals in the race for the yellow jersey remained defiant on Wednesday but it is hard to avoid the sensation that the chances of anyone catching the Kenyan-born Briton are slipping away. Froome came in second in the 11th stage individual time-trial behind winner Tony Martin, but took two minutes on Alejandro Valverde, the Spaniard who is his nearest rival in the general classification. Meanwhile, Alberto Contador, the man tipped to push Froome the hardest before the Tour began, lost 2min 3sec on the Team Sky star and now sits at 3min 54sec.The situation looks to be an impossible one for Contador as he bids to win a third Tour title, but he and his Saxo team sought to remain upbeat at the stage finish in front of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. 'Nobody has won the Tour yet and nobody has lost it. We still need to get to Paris and there is a lot of road to be covered before then,' said Contador, while Saxo's French sporting director Philippe Mauduit described Froome as being from 'another planet' and admitted that keeping up with him in the time-trial was always going to be a big ask. 'We knew before the start that Christopher was the strongest in the time-trial and now we know that we have a lot of time to catch back,' he said. There is now great pressure on Contador, and everyone else who dreams of challenging in the general classification, to attack Froome when the Tour moves into the Alps next week, especially after failing to do so in the Pyrenees. 'If we have an opportunity to do something, we will do it,' added Mauduit. 'Froome is the strongest rider at the moment. He is on another planet and we just have to accept it, but as long as the boys give the best they have we cannot complain.' Movistar rider Valverde was pleased with his showing in the time-trial after coming in 12th-fastest on the day, but also accepted that defending his current position on the podium is his only serious objective. 'My time was ok and I'm happy with that, but what Froome did was almost to be expected. There is still space to close the gap or to lose time, but for the moment we just need to keep the gap as it is,' he said. 'It is clear that two minutes is a lot of time to lose on Froome. But there is Froome and then the rest, who are fighting for a place on the podium, like me. 'I don't know if I can still beat him. It will be difficult.' Contador, Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez all finished in front of Froome on the Tour of Spain in 2012 and the idea of a Spanish alliance against him and Team Sky was floated prior to the start of this year's race. But Rodriguez too appeared to accept on Wednesday that the best he could now hope for was a place on the podium after finishing 56th on the day to drop to almost six minutes behind Froome in the GC. 'If I am in good shape then I can still recover from this, but it is clear that if I carry on like I am just now then it will be difficult,' said the diminutive Catalan. 'I hope to improve for the last week. The Pyrenees were a bit strange for me and things didn't go as well as I had hoped there so let's hope that changes in the Alps. 'We will try to change our tactics there and also try to enjoy ourselves a little.'
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