(AFP) Britain's Bradley Wiggins tightened his grip on the yellow jersey after claiming his maiden Tour de France victory in the ninth stage time trial on Monday.

Sky teammate Christopher Froome finished second at 35secs with defending yellow jersey champion Cadel Evans way off the pace at 1min 43sec.

Team Sky leader Wiggins took a 10sec lead over Evans into the 41.5 km race against the clock between Arc-et-Senans and Besancon and clocked a winning time of 51min 24sec.

He now has a 1min 53sec lead over the Australian, who sits in second place, with Froome moving up to third at 2:07 behind Wiggins.