Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 1: live updates, blog

 
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    Please join us for live blogging of stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné . Live coverage will start from 8:30 PM AEST, with comments as the race progresses.

    Last night’s prologue, aside from Andy Schleck giving up 28 seconds on GC to Bradely Wiggins, was quite an unremarkable affair for any looking for a sign of form given the coming Tour de France.

    What it did however showcase was the further arrival of a heir apparent to Fabian Cancellara – a rider who has built an excellent reputation in Prologues.

    The time of 6 minutes 38 seconds of Luke Durbridge (the Australian time trial champion) looked hard to beat when set, especially as the predicted rain arrived and the course became slippery as predicted. Riders such as Dries Devenyns came to grief, losing his rear wheel on a slippery roundabout.

    As the final 20 riders prepared (which contained the likes of Louis Leon Sanchez, Millar Wiggins) the course showed signs of drying up. By the time Brad Wiggins rocketing down the start ramp on what was by then an essentially again a dry course, heart rates would have gone up in the GreenEDGE team bus.

    In a nail biting finish Turbo Durbo’s time held and he finished one second faster than Wiggins, announcing to the world there is a new player in time trials. This may have also vindicated his somewhat forced decision to step aside from the national Olympic team pursuit squad and focus solely now on road.

    Cadel Evans finished in the top 10 of the opening time trial with a 9th position, only losing time to the specialists.

    None of the other GC contenders, save for Andy Schleck and possibly Juan Jose Cobo, lost any significant time.

    Which leaves them both with the question of whether they attempt to take time back in the high mountains or in one of the ‘flatter’ stages? Which given the terrain the Dauphine is held in is not saying much.

    Stage 1 contains no less than one Category 2, two Category 3 and three Category 4 climbs. Viewers of stage 6 of this year’s Giro will know full well how much damage can be done in a stage like this, should a team come to the front and proceed to take ‘a long handle’ to the peloton.

    Hopefully this will all translate into some exciting racing. So please join us for live blogging of stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné on The Roar.

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