A decision was made by race organisers that stage 13 of the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race would go ahead, despite a lorry attack last night at Bastille Day celebrations in Nice leaving at least 84 people dead and more than 200 injured.

While the 37.5 kilometres individual time trial from Bourg-Saint-Andéol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc began as planned, organisers and local authorities agreed to turn off the volume of start and finish areas, as well as the publicity caravan, while a minute silence was held post-race.

After winning the queen Pyrenean stage in Andorra on Sunday (July 10), Dumoulin had declared that it had showed he was “not only a time trial specialist”, but the Dutchman proved again his abilities against the clock with a strong performance.

Dumoulin crossed the line with a winning time of 50min 15sec, with no rider able to get within a minute of the Giant-Alpecin rider’s finishing time.

Overall race leader Froome was the closest to the Dutchman at the close of the stage, the Briton completing the course in a time of 51:18 to finish second. 

“It's the strangest moment of my career, it's difficult to talk about today's stage," Froome said afterwards.

“With what is happening in France, it gives a different perspective about the race.

“My thoughts go with all the families in Nice and those affected.

“I do a lot of training on those roads, to see the Promenade with all the dead bodies and the horrific scenes is devastating.

“I express my deepest sympathy and my condolences to those who lost their loved ones.”

The Team Sky rider had received a reprieve yesterday when the race jury gave him and Australia’s Richie Porte the same finishing time as Dutchman Bauke Mollema, after being involved in a crash with a motorbike.

Froome had increased his overall race lead as a result of the verdict but his time trial performance today saw him surge further clear as several of his nearest rivals struggled.

Fellow Britain Adam Yates, second at the start of the day, ended 3:01 down on the stage winner.

Colombia’s Nairo Quintana saw his challenge fade further as he was a further seven seconds back, along with Porte, but Mollema finished just 1:54 off the pace to boost his prospects of a podium finish.

The Dutchman now lies second in the overall standings, but has dropped to being 1:47 behind Froome, who is looking increasingly likely to win the Tour de France for a third time and achieve a rare title defence.

Yates is third at 2:45 adrift of Froome, with Quintana having slipped to 2:59 off the pace.

Sprinters could have a chance of claiming victory in tomorrow stage, with the route due to take them 208km from Montélimar to Villars-les-Dombes Parc des Oiseaux.

At the Tour of Poland, another UCI WorldTour race, Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria maintained his race lead after sprinting to stage three victory in Podkarpackie.

He finished the 218km stage ahead of fellow rivals Slovenia's Luka Mezgec and home favourite Michał Kwiatkowski, the world road race champion in 2014.