time. He then came second in the -long time trial on the sixth stage of the Paris–Nice in March, 20 seconds behind Tony Martin of . He finished third overall, behind Martin and rider Andreas Klöden. In April he rode Paris–Roubaix, and then the Tour de Romandie, finishing third in time trial on stage and helped lead-out teammate Ben Swift to victory on the final stage. In March he finished second in the time trial on the third stage of the Critérium International, four seconds down on Klöden. In May he won the -long time trial on stage four of the Bayern Rundfahrt, beating 's Cancellara by 33 seconds, and finished the event in 14th place overall, while also helping teammate Geraint Thomas to win the event. He then went for altitude training in the Alps, in preparation for the Tour. He took the overall lead in the Critérium du Dauphiné after finishing second in the time trial on stage three. On the final three mountain stages, Wiggins maintained his lead over second-placed Evans to win the race, at that time his biggest victory on the road. In June Wiggins won the national road race championship in Northumberland. On the seventh stage of the Tour, a crash around from the finish in Châteauroux forced Wiggins to retire from the race with a broken collarbone. After he had recovered from his injuries, confirmed that Wiggins would ride in the Vuelta a España for the first time, as well as in the road world championships. Wiggins also confirmed that he would take part the Tour in 2012, even though the Olympics would follow soon after. The Vuelta and the world championships were seen as a dress rehearsal for 2012. He had a difficult start to the Vuelta, as finished 42 seconds behind winners in the opening team time trial in Benidorm, but a strong first week brought him back into contention, leaving him twentieth overall after stage eight. On stage nine, Wiggins and teammate Chris Froome attacked on the final climb to finish fourth and fifth respectively, gaining time on rider Joaquim Rodríguez, Michele Scarponi () and other contenders. Wiggins was expected to take the overall lead in the time trial on the following day, but Froome confounded expectations by finishing second on the stage, and Wiggins only rose to third overall. He eventually took the lead after the rest day. Stage