Besancon, France (Sports Network) - Britain's Bradley Wiggins blazed through Monday's Stage 9, an individual time trial, to increase his lead in the general classification at the 2012 Tour de France.

Wiggins finished the 41.5-kilometer course from Arc-et-Senans to Besancon in a time of 51 minutes, 24 seconds, capturing his first Tour stage victory.

Countrymate Christopher Froome finished second with a time of 51:59. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland posted the third-best time, completing the mostly flat trek in 52:21.

Wiggins, who headed into Monday's stage with a 10-second lead over defending champion Cadel Evans, now holds a 1:53 advantage over his Australian rival, who finished sixth.

Froome vaulted from sixth to third in the overall standings. He trails Wiggins by 2:07. Italian Vincenzo Nibali started the day third in the race for the yellow jersey and dropped down to fourth, 2:23 behind Wiggins, after his eighth-place finish.

The Tour's first rest day is on Tuesday.

07/09 12:16:14 ET